Michael Bloomberg said he can still work with Governor David Paterson, even though the governor endorsed the mayor’s Democratic opponent earlier today.
At a press conference in his campaign office, Bloomberg said, “I have been a strong supporter of David Paterson. He is our governor and as long as he is our governor you can rest assured that I will work with him and I will help him and I will always try to promote him and make him effective.”
Bloomberg was there to announce that he had been endorsed by Representative Nita Lowey, a Democrat from Westchester, and by Planned Parenthood’s political action committee.
“Well, no one can deny that I’m a proud Democrat,” said Lowey. “However, I think this election is so critical” that “I think we need another term of Mike Bloomberg.” Lowey cited her friendship with the mayor, along with his work on women’s issues, anti-terrorism, and gun control.
When I asked if she thought the city would be less safe or prosperous if the Democratic nominee were elected, Lowey said, “Look, this press conference is about Mike Bloomberg. It’s not about any other candidate. So, I’m here to endorse Mike Bloomberg.”
Bloomberg took a shot at the class warfare message pushed by his Democratic opponent, Bill Thompson, saying, “I’m about pulling people together, not dividing them. We don’t need two separate New Yorks.”
Later, when asked to gauge the impact the vote to extend term limits had on Tuesday’s primary, where several incumbents lost, Bloomberg said, “I don’t think it’s a potent issue at all. I think every poll says, and I think Azi wrote something the other day–it was a brilliant piece.”
(The argument happens to serve Bloomberg, the architect of the term-limits extension, particularly well. The over-the-top, unserious praise alludes to the fact that the mayor has not always admired my analysis of his involvement with the term-limits issue.)
After some laughter from the other reporters and attendees, Bloomberg continued, “It said in every one of these cases there were so many other issues.”
