Posted on 03/03/2005 9:28:09 PM PST by neverdem
It was meant to be a quick message on a reporter's voice mailbox. But the caller, a New York political power broker, apparently forgot to hang up the phone, inadvertently revealing his conversation last week with two associates that provided a rare glimpse into the otherwise tightly scripted world of mayoral politics.
In the conversation, the three discuss a competitive Democratic primary as anything but that, treating it as a mere obstacle for the candidate, Fernando Ferrer, before he faces his big test: running in the general election against one of the richest men in America, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
They also discuss opening a national fund-raising campaign to compete against the tens of millions of dollars that Mr. Bloomberg, a Republican, is likely to spend in what is expected to be one of the highest-profile races in the nation this year.
In a world in which a slipped finger can inadvertently send personal and important e-mail messages to unintended audiences, in which private cellphone conversations can bleed into other people's earpieces, perhaps it is no surprise that the backroom planning for a political race would become public through an unintended recording of a conversation on a voice mail system. Surprising or not, it happened at a delicate time, as Mr. Ferrer and three other opponents in the Democratic primary begin their campaigns for the Democratic nomination.
Whether Mr. Ferrer would win the primary was never in question as the power broker, Roberto Ramirez, and his associates planned efforts to reach out to donors and other fund-raisers. "This is spring training for the World Series," said one of the associates. "Because dollars to doughnuts, we'll be in the World Series."
It was less clear how they planned to raise enough cash to take on the best-financed mayor in the history of New York City elections, one who spent roughly $75 million of his own money in the 2001 election.
"How about the idea for a national fund-raising campaign?" asked Mr. Ramirez, a political power in the Bronx for years and long a close associate of Mr. Ferrer.
The team then set out to lay the groundwork for such a fund-raising campaign to be led by Mr. Ferrer's chief fund-raiser, Leo J. Hindery Jr., the former chairman of Yes Network, who had raised money for the presidential campaign of Senator John Kerry and had just recently been in the running to be the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Speaking of a fund-raising meeting that was being planned for this week, Mr. Ramirez said, "The bent of it is we're going national."
The line underscored local Democrats' hopes that party members across the nation would help them against Mr. Bloomberg as retribution for the mayor's duties as host to the Republican National Convention, to which he personally donated nearly $7 million.
Whoever faces Mr. Bloomberg in the fall might need substantial monetary help. The Democratic primary is likely to be a tough fight and may even involve a runoff, and the nominee might well have a depleted war chest.
Under New York's campaign rules, the mayor's opponent in the general election is likely to be free to raise as much as he can because the mayor is paying for his own campaign and thus is not in the campaign finance system. For those taking part in the system, the city's Campaign Finance Board will match donations at a ratio as high as six to one, but only up to $7 million. Still, the outmatched campaign is free to raise as much money as it can, in increments of $4,950 per donor.
Fully aware of that, Mr. Ramirez's associate said in the meeting, "The sky's the limit."
"Absolutely," Mr. Ramirez responded.
Mr. Ramirez would not comment on the conversation or identify the two other people in the room. But the campaign provided Mr. Hindery for an interview last night in which he affirmed that Mr. Ferrer was indeed beginning a national drive to raise money for the race. "If Mike wins," he said, "I promise you that Karl Rove and the others will say, 'Look, Republicans are as strong in the Northeast as they are in the red states.' "
But Mr. Hindery said the fund-raising drive had to go national by necessity. "Mike has something we've never seen before, which is literally a bottomless checkbook," he said. "We live in this $4,950 world - we're thrilled to get a $250 check - and we can't do it without reaching outside the city."
Mr. Hindery was the key topic of discussion in Mr. Ramirez's office the day the message was recorded. In particular, they spoke of how he and other campaign officials would appeal to potential donors who were to meet at Mr. Ferrer's headquarters last night. "He's going to give a presentation of where we've been, what we're trying to do," said one man in the room.
"The donors, they have to feel a part of this," Mr. Ramirez said. "They have to know this is serious."
At another point, another associate offered one possible solution: "We could get hats made with their names, a special team," he said. Emphasizing another part of the pitch, he said the donors should be told, "Months from now we're going to be sitting here celebrating the primary, but I want you to understand that's when we really have to do our work."
The associate indicated that Mr. Ferrer was "close to the max" in terms of raising the maximum allowable amount of money for the primary in September, though the other man in the room emphasized that some money still needed to be raised for that election.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
Better four years under my former borough President than having to listen to some Masshole Yuppie transplant brag about how a bunch of orange sheets in central park brought tons of dough into the city.
The Yankees are the spawn of Satan. OF COURSE there is a connection.
Did you formerly live around Arthur Avenue in the Bronx?
189th and Belmont. Two blocks from Arthur.
BTW: Aren't you on Broadway going up towards Yonkers?
I'm in Riverdale, not far from the Henry Hudson Bridge.
Hard to believe, but until Robert Moses built that bridge in the 1930, there were still cows grazing in Spuyten Duyville.
I would think that blooming tyrant Bloomberg would go down in ashes no matter how much money he has to spend. Good grief he's impossible.
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