WOW; 'What if we'd done more for Bill Thompson?

[DainBramaged]

The most nagging question among Bill Thompson's supporters on Wednesday is this: What if fellow Democrats had actually backed - rather than abandoned - him?

In the end, despite polls showing him trailing by 18 points in the final days of the campaign, Thompson lost to Mayor Bloomberg and his $100 million campaign by a mere 5 points.

So what if?

What if President Obama - instead of delivering a squishy, nonendorsement-endorsement of Thompson, after his press secretary couldn't even come up with Thompson's name - had stumped for the man?

"There are a number of people around Bill who felt that he was let down and that, yes, it could have helped if President Obama had campaigned with him," one senior Thompson adviser said last night. "But that's not who Bill Thompson is. He has not been bitter."

Bitter or not, the question remains.

What if Vice President Biden, in town Monday to raise money for other Democrats, had taken 10 minutes to say something nice about the controller?

What if City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, instead of sitting on her hands for months, used the power of her purse strings to rustle up some support for Thompson?

What if the Rev. Al Sharpton, who was happy to stand onstage last night at Thompson's concession speech, had stood a little closer during the campaign?

What if the more powerful city unions like the United Federation of Teachers and SEIU Local 1199, Democratic check writers or for-hire strategists had stayed true



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election_2009/2009/11/0...

[DainBramaged]

1. I'm going to kick this a bit simply because this is the sleeper of all the elections

last night. We could have taken NYC back and gotten rid of Mayor Nanny.

[clear eye]

2. Just shows the power of polls.

Politicians rarely stick their necks out for someone they feel is a sure loser. They assume they will have to work w/ the opponent after the election.

The lesson here is that we have to look closely at the sources of the polls and their methodology. And if they show bad numbers for our candidate and it looks fishy, both the candidate's press person and the Dem party have to holler "Foul" as loudly as they can. Then the candidate might not be treated like a leper.