Bloombucks

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

In respect of the uproar over the spending in the current mayoral campaign, we agree that the situation is extremely unfair to Fernando Ferrer. No wonder he has deployed the character known as Mr. Bloombucks. Mr. Ferrer is being outspent by the mayor many times over, and it is outrageous that the city council has laid restrictions on how much money Mr. Ferrer can raise from individuals and corporations, hobbling his ability to mount a campaign. It is unfair. It is un-American. And it is self-inflicted by the liberals on one of their own.


The mayor is doing exactly what he should be doing, pouring his fortune into the election. We recognize that it irks the New York Times, which over the weekend issued a piece by Jim Rutenberg and Patrick Healy complaining that the mayor had the effrontery to run ads not only in English but also aimed at minority voters speaking Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Hindi, and Urdu. Messrs. Rutenberg and Healy argue that “Mr. Bloomberg’s spending has certainly tarnished him among the good government advocates whom he has tried to court,” though the only individual they quote on the point is the executive director of Citizens Union, which endorsed the mayor.


If there is injustice here it is in the restrictions the lawmakers have laid upon Mr. Ferrer. It’s not the Republican plutocrat that these regulations turn out to be hobbling. It’s the candidate, in Mr. Ferrer, who is on the left. We happen to think his problems have less to do with campaign financing and more with the substance of his platform. But he is the one complaining about the disparity in money. Let the Democrats study this election and rue the restrictions on campaign finance. Maybe they’ll let the next man of modest means raise money and, should he find himself in the arena with a billionaire, compete.

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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