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Local pols kibitz on presidential race

By David Freedlander, amNewYork Staff Writer
More stories | dfreedlander@am-ny.com

March 6, 2008

Around the City Hall water cooler, the heated campaign for the Democratic nomination has lead to what many call a little good-natured goading among pols.

"From the (Barack) Obama folks there were all sorts of offers of amnesty if I would come to the other side," said City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), who supports Sen. Hillary Clinton. "They kept on saying it expired though, like I had to come over by the end of February."

To be sure, around City Hall, public opinion falls far in favor of the home-state senator, whom many will have to work if she doesn't make it the White House. Still, Obamaniacs aren't hard to find.

"We're still winning, that's what it comes down to," said Councilman Albert Vann (D-Brooklyn.) "The reality is you need to get a number of delegates to win, and we have the most delegates."

Like the rest of the country, opinion is fairly divided over whether a protracted fight for the nomination is good for the country. Clintonistas say it is, while Obama while supporters are anxious for the party to rally around the current leader, who, of course, happens to be their man.

"This is exactly what democracy is all about, and it's an extraordinary time for the country," said Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) who worked in the Clinton White House and now considers Hillary a personal friend. "You have to believe in voters and have faith in democracy."

He added, "It's fun to speculate, but we're going to have a vigorous campaign for the next six weeks and then we'll see what happens. Who would have though 6 weeks ago that we would be where we are?"

And Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who last week removed himself from any consideration for a White House run but is being chased for his endorsement, told a news conference Tuesday that he wouldn't be staying up all night waiting for the returns to come in .

"The thing is, if you just tune in at the end of the night, or you watch the whole thing, in the end, the result is the same," he said