In the race for New York City mayor, Democrat Bill Thompson launched his toughest attack yet on Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

He’s accusing the mayor of lying in his latest ad attacking Thompson.

Bill Thompson was on the war path Tuesday, calling out Mayor Bloomberg for going so negative in his latest TV commercial.

“What Bill Thompson offers is just talk, talk, talk and no action,” claims the Bloomberg ad.

The tone is surprising, given Bloomberg’s lead in the polls and given how much money he’s spending.

“Thompson was not able to handle the board of education,” the ad continues. “Bill Thompson has a proven record of failure when it comes to education.”

“It is a little sad the mayor has resorted to distortion, to lies in this campaign,” Thompson said.

Thompson speculated the mayor is going so negative because he claims the race has tightened and that Bloomberg’s TV strategy has backfired.

“It is a pattern of distortion when it suits him, and when it’s in his best interest,” Thompson said. “So I think New Yorkers are smart. They don’t like negative campaigning.”

The mayor picked up the endorsement of several Democrats, but the one big name he’d like hasn’t said who he supports. President Barack Obama has urged Governor Paterson out of next year’s gubernatorial race and has campaigned with New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. But so far, he’s staying out of the mayor’s race. That means Bloomberg must make do with what he has.

One of the Democrats supporting Bloomberg is John Podesta, who worked for Bill Clinton and headed up Obama’s transition team. But Thompson said that doesn’t compare to endorsements from the likes of both New York’s Democratic senators, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, which he received Monday. But the mayor says he is grateful, none-the-less.

“As perhaps testament to how hard it is to get to cross party lines, this is the first time in my life I’ve done so,” Podesta said.

If President Obama decided to endorse Thompson, that would give his campaign a big boost. But so far, there is no indication of that. It’s just as possible he’d back Bloomberg after his press secretary and secretary of education both praised the work of the current mayor.

(Source: WABC / 7Online)