Election Day 2009: 6 Losers to Watch!
It's Election Day and, this being New York, no surprises are expected. As Runnin' Scared has no influence to peddle, we can afford to be brutally honest about this. The Mayor's reelection is treated as a foregone conclusion and, down-ticket, the Democrats are expected to romp (except in Staten Island, where the Republicans are expected to romp -- everywhere, that is, but on the north shore, where Debi Rose is expected to romp).
About the only joy this leaves poll-watchers is seeing how close the also-rans can get. And there are races where they could get uncomfortably close. In fact, in a case or two, they might just pull it off. That's the miracle of democracy!
Here's a short list of contenders who, contrary to custom, could make things interesting today:
Alex Zablocki, Republican, Public Advocate. The challenger to Bill de Blasio is full of what our dear old grandma called piss and vinegar. He appeared at the first New York Tea Party, and spoke at the much-larger second one, denouncing New York's status as "the most taxed state in the nation" and drawing roars from the crowd; if even a third of those people are eligible to vote in the city, Zablocki will make a good showing -- especially versus 2005, when the GOP fielded no candidate and Betsy Gotbaum got 89 percent. He hits relentless the rightwing talking points of the day: He called for volunteers to design ACORN costumes for Halloween, and the 69th A.D. Republican Club recently sent us a note promising Zablocki will "push for lower pension benefits for new city employees in defiance of New York's Working Families Party and their puppet masters at ACORN." But he knows how to pander, too, advocating "more funding for our public schools." That's a winning combination -- or, in this case, a not-losing-too-badly combination.
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