Weiner’s Quota Kibosh

What’s this? Backbone on the mayoral campaign trail?

The Democratic candidates, at a Monday night mayoral forum in Chinatown, reportedly were asked: “[In] what area of government would you say that Asian-American would have the strongest voice and highest voice in your administration, should you become mayor?”

Freddy Ferrer, Virginia Fields and Gifford Miller essentially groveled.

But Anthony Weiner wasn’t buying: “I’m not going to hire people by nationality or by quota…If you’re a fresh thinker, if you’re someone who thinks outside the box and is as committed as I am, we’ll be taking applications in the back of the room.”

Such bluntness might cost Weiner in the short term.  But successful chief executives (think Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani) managed to be mayors of “all the people”—without excessive ethnic pandering.

And quite a few voters still decline to define themselves by their race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.

Instead, they believe that they are, first and foremost, New Yorkers.

And they might be pleased by Weiner’s refreshing words.