Weiner Showcases Photos From Bar Mitzvah in Mailing

Special to the Sun

Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner has sent out a new mailing, one with a unique approach. Featured in the piece, which proclaims the Brooklyn-Queens congressman a "Mayor for the Middle Class," are several photos taken at his bar mitzvah. Also included is his fifth-grade class picture.

It may be that Mr. Weiner wants to reassure Jewish voters that he is indeed a full member of the tribe despite his hy brid name - Anthony is not a common name among Jews. Or perhaps it is a way for him to work his mom and dad into the campaign. He frequently cites his parents on the campaign trail.

Of course, Mr. Weiner is not alone in using memorabilia from his childhood in his campaign. Fernando Ferrer features his high school graduation photograph in his first television spot, and C. Virginia Fields displays a photograph in a brochure that didn't need to be assembled using Photoshop: She is pictured in a choir in her native Birmingham, Ala., performing for the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. That wins the award for the closest thing to the famous film clip of a young William Clinton shaking hands with President Kennedy.

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Following the "official" launch of Mr. Weiner's bid for the mayoralty last week, the candidate - who enjoys a reputation for being the most wonkish of the four Democrats vying to occupy City Hall - appears to be pursuing an unusual campaign strategy. Where the daily activity of Mr. Weiner's rivals seems to consist of shaking hands and collecting endorsements, the congressman, whose district straddles Brooklyn and Queens, appears this week to be making his daily ritual major policy speeches.

Yesterday, Mr. Weiner - who has styled himself the candidate of middle-income, outer-borough voters - trotted out a series of proposals aimed at relieving "the middle class squeeze." Mr. Weiner focused, in particular, on the issue of taxation, having pledged to reduce the income-tax burden on New Yorkers earning less than $150,000 a year by 10%, and yesterday faulting the mayor for property-tax increases that preclude New Yorkers from enjoying the financial benefits of rising property values.

Today, the candidate will kick off a three-day series of policy speeches on education. The first leg of Mr. Weiner's education-policy marathon will focus on discipline in schools, with the candidate set to propose the swift transfer of students in gangs, increased punishment for physical assaults on instructors, and suggesting that misbehaving students be sent to "boot camp."

The Weiner campaign said that Thursday's remarks will address "retaining the best teachers and treating them with respect," and that on Friday Mr. Weiner will urge "getting back to basics in our lesson plans."