As Marathoners Streak Through City, Bloomberg and Ferrer Pound Pavement in Final Campaign Sprint
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.
With marathoners running through the five boroughs yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg and his Democratic Party challenger, Fernando Ferrer, picked up speed for the final leg of their political marathon.
Messrs. Bloomberg and Ferrer officially started racing after the Democratic primary in September, but Mr. Bloomberg, who has held a commanding 30-point lead in public opinion polls for more than a month, has been competing in an unofficial race – more like an ultra marathon than the traditional 26.2-mile race – for close to a year. It was a full 10 months ago when he kicked off his campaign at B.B. King’s and seven months ago when he launched his television advertising campaign.
With the finish line in sight, Mr. Bloomberg’s message yesterday was clear: Some political referees might say the race is over, but it’s not.
“People have lost elections that they had in the bag because they were overconfident,” he said. “I’m not, and I’m trying to make sure that everybody comes out to vote.”
Mr. Ferrer was also on the go yesterday. He spoke at three Baptist churches before campaigning with Senator Clinton in Washington Heights.
“I seem to remember that Senator Clinton’s husband was once called the comeback kid,” he said, remaining hopeful about the fast-approaching election.
While Mr. Ferrer stayed in the Bronx and Manhattan, Mr. Bloomberg was roaming the city. He visited four boroughs, some of them twice. Today he will visit each of the five boroughs twice, starting at 7 a.m. in Staten Island and ending with an 11 p.m. event atop the Empire State Building.
Yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg kicked off the marathon in Staten Island, traveled part of the marathon course in a vintage convertible, and congratulated winners at Central Park.
As soon as the medals were safely around the runners’ necks, Mr. Bloomberg hopped into a car and zoomed off with his aides and his girlfriend, Diana Taylor – who wore pink, dangly “Bloomberg ’05” earrings – to a rally for supporters in Borough Park. There, he received a rock star greeting from hundreds of supporters waving Hebrew campaign posters.
At the marathon, Mr. Bloomberg wore a windbreaker. By the time he arrived in Brooklyn, he had donned a yarmulke and Yiddish phrases had suddenly become a major part of his vocabulary.
“So what I want to do after we’ve gone through a month of beautiful holidays, I want to ask the rabbis in this community to permit one more celebration day. Let us make tomorrow erev yom tov and make Tuesday, please God, a holiday for me and for you and for this city,” he said. Then, asking for a show of hands of children who are too young to vote, Mr. Bloomberg said, “You can still participate in the democratic process of Election Day on Tuesday. Your job is to schlep your parents to the polls. And Zayde and Bubbie too.”
Next, Mr. Bloomberg sped to Rockaway Park to speak at the dedication of a memorial built in honor of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
As the sun was setting, Mr. Bloomberg thanked volunteers at one of his Brooklyn campaign offices. There were so many supporters that they spilled out the door, and a bouncer had to stand by the entrance, holding people back as if the converted schoolhouse were the Chelsea hot spot Marquee.
He wrapped up his day at the Metropolitan Republican Club on the Upper East Side, where he urged volunteers not to rest until Tuesday night.
“What we’ve got to do in the next two days is bang on every door, ring every doorbell,” he said. “We’ve got to call our friends, call our family, and call strangers and say ‘look, you can’t take this election for granted.'”
Mr. Ferrer, meanwhile, reiterated his major campaign themes yesterday as he reached out to his base. At churches, he delivered the sermon-like David and Goliath speech that has become a staple of his campaign. Although the election is just days away, a few pastors mispronounced his name as they introduced him. At New Canaan Baptist Church, he was, “Farrar” and at Antioch Baptist Church, he was “Ferrero.”
Out on the streets, he received a warmer reception.
The candidate gave the thumbs-up as he walked with Mrs. Clinton past bodegas, car service shops, and street vendors. The crowd chanted “Our votes are not for sale” in English and Spanish: “Nuestro voto no se vende.”
Mrs. Clinton was positive about the Democrat’s chances.
Asked if he could win despite his position in the polls, she said, “Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, it all depends upon who votes on Tuesday, and I think with this enthusiasm and the incredibly unified elected officials that you see here and throughout the city, I absolutely think that you’re looking at the next mayor of the City of New York.”
Today, Mr. Ferrer is expected to campaign with a rising star of the Democratic Party, Senator Obama, in four boroughs.