Rival Weiner party-poohs Bloomberg

Friday November 26, 2004
By: MAGGIE HABERMAN

Long-shot mayoral hopeful Rep. Anthony Weiner is looking to give himself a boost in next year's race by saddling Mayor Bloomberg with the "R" word: Republican.

Weiner, a Queens Democrat, is trying to jump out of the pack of rivals by repeatedly hammering Bloomberg's wealth and GOP ties - hoping to harness New York's anti-Bush anger.

"I think a lot of New Yorkers are longing for someone who will stand up in the old-fashioned, New York way for the things we need," Weiner told the Daily News recently.

"If you want someone to break bread at Lutece with Republicans, I'm not your man," added Weiner, who has issued countless press releases and even a TV ad yoking Bloomberg to President Bush.

Whether his headline-friendly strategy can work is another story. Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer is widely considered the Democratic primary favorite. But Weiner is the candidate who seems to get under Bloomberg's skin the most. The bad blood dates to the 2001 race, when Weiner distributed copies of an off-color "joke book" that a former Bloomberg LP staffer claimed were a collection of the media mogul's finest quips.

Weiner's critics seize on moments like that to disparage him as press-hungry and a lightweight version of his mentor, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

"The mayor has an outstanding record, and in contrast, despite many years in Congress, Weiner still doesn't have a record to talk about. As a matter of fact, the only thing he has delivered for New Yorkers is political hot air," said Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler.

Weiner has spent months setting up a campaign operation that includes consultant Tom Friedman, pollster Joel Benenson and adman Jim Margolis.

But he's not alone among ambitious Democrats.

Ferrer also has been gearing up, consolidating forces among his advisers, which include former Bronx Democratic Party head Roberto Ramirez and the Global Strategy Group. Council Speaker Gifford Miller, who has done extremely well with fund-raising, is expected to bring in a pollster soon and already has hired former Clinton adviser Mandy Grunwald. Other potential candidates, albeit long shots, include Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields and Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn). Controller William Thompson looks more and more likely not to make a stab at City Hall.

Veteran Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf, a Thompson adviser, said Weiner's strategy is "trying to be [the] 2004 version of Ed Koch 1977. He believes he can put a coalition together of outer-borough Jews, Catholics and white ethnics, and that will secure him a place in the runoff." But, he added, "The difference between 2005 and 2001 is that no one hates Mike Bloomberg. He is not a polarizing figure. He's not Rudy Giuliani."