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Quinn Haunted by Role in Bloomberg 3rd Term

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Christine Quinn says she stands behind her decision despite its unpopularity.
Christine Quinn says she stands behind her decision despite its unpopularity.
Not too long ago, Christine Quinn was the strong favorite for the Democratic nomination in the 2013 mayoral race. That made sense – she was considered an effective Speaker of the Assembly with a knack for getting things done. She worked closely with Mayor Bloomberg and was a support for NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly – yet she had strong liberal credentials that appealed to the new York’s large left-wing voting bloc.

Yet, of late, her campaign has been faltering. She has struggled to keep pace with former city comptroller Bill Thompson, and she trails far behind the Democratic frontrunner Bill de Blasio.

The reason for her plummet in popularity? Mayor Bloomberg’s controversial 3rd term.

The New York Daily News reports that City Council Speaker Quinn convened a secret meeting during Bloomberg’s second term. The purpose was to discuss a poll she had quietly commissioned to ascertain whether city voters would be willing to revisit New York’s term limit laws. The results of the poll were overwhelmingly negative.

This did not deter Quinn, however. Two years later, she proved critical in pushing through legislation – avoiding the need for a popular vote – allowing Bloomberg to run for a 3rd term.

Her involvement in this radical departure from election protocol has proved damaging to her campaign.

“Speaker Quinn has said repeatedly that she delivered,” rival Bill de Blasio said at the first Democratic mayoral debate. “She delivered for the real estate industry, and we all know she delivered for Bloomberg by giving him a third term.”

Former City Controller Bill Thompson — who ran against Bloomberg in 2009 — said Quinn “betrayed the people of the city of New York and undermined democracy, and that’s a fact.”

A political group called “Anyone but Quinn” repeatedly cites term limits in trying to rally voters against her.

Quinn has defended her actions, citing the onset of the Great Recession as the motivating factor convincing her that the city was in need of continuing leadership.

“When you make a tough decision as an elected official — one that you know is unpopular — you expect it is going to have repercussions,” she said. “I stand by it, and I accept the political repercussions.”

The result of her decisions afforded her a close relationship with Bloomberg. She was viewed as his Deputy Mayor, and joined him as a member of the city’s leadership team during Hurricane Sandy. She stood behind Commissioner Kelly following the failed Times Square SUV bombing.

This mayoral affinity is not working in her favor right now, as the mayor’s popularity has plummeted. In a recent Quinnipiac poll, 65% of likely Democratic voters said they wanted the city to go in a “new direction.”

Quinn has thus been struggling to distance herself from the mayor, his policies, and his brand, seen by many Democrats as elitist and power hungry. She recently claimed that she was able to work with Bloomberg only because “she made the decision” to do so, and not because of any political affinity with him. She has reversed her stance on the controversial Stop & Frisk program, despite the fact that both Bloomberg and Kelly stand by it as an effective crime-fighting technique.

She is also working to shift the term limits attack on frontrunner de Blasio.

“Voters respect the fact that I made a decision and stood by it,” she claimed. “It stands in sharp contrast to de Blasio, who in 2004 said he would change term limits by legislation. Now he’s running for mayor and rails against it.”

 

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