Bloomberg Plans To Follow in Koch’s Footsteps

In the coming weeks, Mayor Bloomberg plans to swipe a page out of Mayor Koch’s re-election campaign playbook and do walking tours around the city to meet voters one at a time, Bloomberg aides told The New York Sun.Mayor Koch used to walk the city’s neighborhoods, stop at their busiest intersections, and then stand on a box, he said.“I would preach my message to the 50 or a hundred people who would gather around,” he told the Sun. “I would say to them, ‘Raise your right hand, repeat after me. I, state your name, I shall rush to the polls in November to vote for Ed Koch, so help me God.’ And they would do it. Everyone had a good time, and I believed the oath was binding. When people swear, they take it seriously.”While it is unclear whether Mr. Bloomberg will be toting a box or instructing voters to vow their allegiance, he is expected to begin impromptu visits to neighborhoods in all five boroughs. Aides declined to provide any details on the mayor’s unfolding reelection strategy.People familiar with the planning, however, said a schedule hasn’t been set and the mayor’s tours are designed both to come as surprises and to be unstructured.Mr. Bloomberg is likely to stop at hubs such as Fulton Street in Brooklyn, or Fordham Road and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, in a bid to show voters that not only is he putting his own money into the campaign, but he is willing to work for every vote.By doing so Mr. Bloomberg apparently hopes to demonstrate that, contrary to what his opponents are saying, he isn’t out of touch with the common man.“Walking tours, in my opinion, are grossly underrated,” a political-science professor at Baruch College, Douglas Muzzio, said. “But he’s going to have to do it right. He should not only be talking to the bodega guys, but listening to them, too. He has to engage. The mayor’s problem is that he doesn’t engage sometimes, and he has to show people he can.”Democratic consultants agreed. While Mr. Bloomberg may be beating all comers right now in the polls, the campaign’s internal polling shows that he has weaknesses.Chief among them, according to external polls, is the mayor’s ability to connect.People tend to see him as a billionaire first and a mayor second. Analysts said Mr. Bloomberg has to change that perception. Up to this point in the campaign, it has been the most effective brickbat his opponents have used against him.Some of the problem is of Mr. Bloomberg’s own making.He has made no secret of his willingness to spend staggering amounts of his own money to ensure he wins come November.Analysts said they expect Mr. Bloomberg will spend as much as $100 million on this race.“Mayor Bloomberg has a wonderful style which is different from mine,” Mr. Koch, a Democrat who freely praises Mr. Bloomberg, said. “His is a less in-your-face style. But it is engaging. You say to yourself, here is this guy worth $5 billion and he’s a nice guy and he’s not pushy. That’s what people think when they meet him.”Mr. Koch’s favorite spots for putting down a box and enticing voters to cast a ballot for the incumbent?“My lucky spots, the two place I always campaigned, were the subways on East 77th and East 86th,” he told the Sun. “There is a huge number of people coming in and out. On the West Side, I’d recommend the 72nd Street station. I really enjoyed it and I think he will really enjoy it too.”

Bloomberg Plans To Follow in Koch’s Footsteps

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