If Bill de Blasio (D) wants to win his primary, he's going to need a little help from his friends:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Some of New York City's most recognizable faces have teamed up for a new ad supporting Bill de Blasio's campaign to become mayor.
The black-and-white online video --- seen here first on The Huffington Post -- features music mogul Russell Simmons and actresses Susan Sarandon and Cynthia Nixon, among others. The famous faces urge New Yorkers to cast their ballot in the Democratic primary for de Blasio, currently the city's public advocate.
The commercial, which will be online-only, opens with entertainer Harry Belafonte saying, "What kind of New York do you want? Well let me tell you about it."
In quick succession, various celebrities rattle off policies in tune with de Blasio's platform. Sarandon calls to save struggling hospitals, and Simmons plugs reforms to the police department's use of stop-and-frisk. De Blasio's daughter, Chiara, adds that she wants a New York where "renters are protected."
"I want a New York where every kid can go to pre-k," Nixon, the former "Sex and the City" star, says in the ad, alluding to de Blasio's goal of raising taxes on New Yorkers making more than $500,000 to create thousands of new seats in pre-kindergarten classes. - Huffington Post, 8/27/13
At this point de Blasio will need the help because he is getting attacked by his primary opponent, Bill Thompson (D):
http://www.nydailynews.com/...
In the first attack ad of the Democratic primary season, Bill Thompson rolled out a new TV spot Sunday accusing Bill de Blasio of lying about Thompson’s position on stop-and-frisk.
It was the latest sign that the candidates are jousting for the African-American vote in an up-for-grabs race.
In the ad, Thompson, the only African-American candidate for mayor, slams a de Blasio spot earlier this month that called the public advocate the “only one” who will “end a stop-and-frisk era that unfairly targets minorities.”
“Bill de Blasio’s ad lies about my position on stop-and-frisk,” Thompson says in the spot. “Nothing is more important that keeping our city safe and treating our people with respect. No one has to explain that to me — I’ve lived it.” - New York Daily News, 8/27/13
Keep in mind that Thompson is in this guy's pocket:
He was the rough-and-ready boss of the New York State Republican Party for a quarter-century, the senator from the suburbs who helped make “liberal” a dirty word in American politics.
Yet Alfonse M. D’Amato, it turns out, is the biggest financial backer for one Democrat in the New York City mayoral race, raising money enthusiastically for William C. Thompson Jr., whose best-known boosters, including David N. Dinkins and Betsy Gotbaum, lean decidedly to the left.
As the man long known as Senator Pothole might put it: What gives?
The unlikely alliance has given Mr. Thompson, an even-tempered former city comptroller, a sorely needed jolt of high-powered fund-raising as he seeks to project energy and momentum in the wide-open race for the Democratic nomination.
It also underscores the diversity of supporters in the political establishment that he has tried to demonstrate with endorsements from Merryl H. Tisch, chancellor of the State Board of Regents, and Richard Ravitch, a former lieutenant governor and Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman.
Mr. D’Amato and his partner Melvin H. Miller, a onetime speaker of the State Assembly, bundled some $65,000 in donations to Mr. Thompson through March 11. And Mr. D’Amato’s close associates, former aides and major clients have pitched in, too. All told, his network has accounted for as much as $125,000 in gifts to the Thompson campaign. - New York Times, 5/15/13
Thompson isn't the only one attacking de Blasio lately:
http://politicker.com/...
Just in case it wasn’t already clear from the barbs on his Twitter feed, Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson is not a fan of Bill de Blasio’s vision for the city.
During an appearance tonight on NY1, the man who has become the mayor’s chief mouthpiece, continued to dig into the sudden front-runner in the mayor’s race, doubling down on previous criticism and accusing the city’s public advocate of flip-flopping on term limits.
The attack comes as various forces are ramping up their efforts to halt Mr. de Blasio’s unexpected gains in the polls with just two weeks to go until the primary.
Mr. Wolfson began by defending a recent tweet that summed up Mr. de Blasio’s agenda as “higher taxes, bigger govt, more biz mandates. A u-turn back to the 70s.” He said that, while Mr. de Blasio might disagree with the “phraseology,” there’s no doubt that Mr. de Blasio wants to reverse course on the Bloomberg years.
“You know, I think we’ve had the best 12 years of the city’s history in the last 12 years and Bill de Blasio wants to undo that,” argued Mr. Wolfson, who has known Mr. de Blasio for years. “He wants to take the city back to a different style of governing, where we had higher taxes, where we had more regulation on business, where we had more permissive policing.” - Politicker, 8/26/13
de Blasio is going to need our help now more than ever. Please do donate to de Blasio's campaign so he can keep his ad on the air and fight back:
http://my.billdeblasio.com/...