Ho hum…
I’ll admit it — I was kind of hoping against hope that Freddy Ferrer was able to close the gap somewhat on Election Day and make people at least break a sweat. No dice.
Remember when the Yankees were unbeatable and you didn’t wonder how they’d beat San Diego or the Mets, but in how many games? That was what it was like to cover this race.
Just call Ferrer the ’96 Braves. They were the preseason favorites, held an early lead on their opponent and then had their doors blown off by a New York juggernaut.
It got to the point where you couldn’t turn a page in a New York newspaper —daily, weekly or special interest — and not read about how far ahead the mayor was in the polls. His victory almost can be called a self-fulfilling prophecy. It was inevitable for months.
It seemed that once Ferrer was officially announced as the opposition in the General Election, the bloodletting of the Democratic party began. For all the early talk of “party unity,” what happened in the end was the farthest thing from it.
The cross-party endorsements from all over the city from Democratic officeholders for Bloomberg was unprecedented in New York’s political history.
While Anthony Weiner’s bow-out after the Primary worked wonders for him (keeping him in good graces with party leaders) it turned out to backfire for his Democratic mates.
Ferrer campaign was one where even an event with “Mr. Democrat,” President Bill Clinton, became a fiasco.
Weiner were the nominee, there wouldn’t have been the Democratic exodus. The race might even have been close.
And it would have given us pundits something a lot more fun to write about than lopsided polls — like, oh, the big issues perhaps?
politics@queenscourier.com