While he appears to be rather permissive on social issues, he is market oriented and very pro-business. I think he will continue Guiliani's strategies to control crime, and prevent NYC from deteriorating the way it did under DemocRAT mayors Koch and Dinkens.

Only have to look at Schundler's loss to understand what kind of candidate NY and NJ voters want - Schundler remained close to his conservative platform, while allowing McGreevy to wrap himself in a tax cutting banner that left him positioned as more moderate (we will see!). A New York republican has to be a liberal republican. Bloomberg had only to divide the more powerful democratic constituents enough - and the fight between Green and Ferrer did most of the work - but Bloomberg still needed to get Democrats to cross the line!

New York will never have a conservative mayor. The best it can hope for is a fiscally conservative liberal.

Green did several things to lose this election:

(1) He let his everpresent megalomania and arrogance run wild. Bloomberg's ad, where they ran the tape of Green saying that he would have done a better job dealing with the WTC atrocity than Giuliani if he had been mayor was perfect. The fact that he would say something so simultaneously stupid and self-serving boggled the mind.

(2) He pissed off black voters by advertising the fact that Freddy Ferrer was Sharpton's lickspittle. Blacks also didn't buy his "I'm the little guy's champion" song-and-dance - Sharpton made sure they knew that Green's largest contributor, his brother, is one of the biggest and wealthiest landlords in NYC.

(3) He pissed off Hispanic voters by advertising the fact that Freddy Ferrer was Sharpton's lickspittle.

(4) Green pissed off many wavering Democrats with his last-minute, lower-than-low attack ads based on hearsay from a disgruntled ex-Bloomberg employee.

(5) He is boring!

The Democratic primary taught us one important lesson: it will be increasingly impossible for an old-school Jew/Italian/Irish Democrat to win the Democratic nomination in NYC going forward. Sharpton/Mfume/Barabara Lee-style racial arsonists barely lost the runoff, and their refusal to turn out for Green shows that they have hijacked the Democratic party in NY.

Future elections will be Black Panther Party vs. Rockefeller Republican.

NY generally gets about what it deserves: a mayor they can hate.They hated Guiliani before 9/11- called him a fascist, a boor, a womanizer - and they'll hate Bloomberg even more. They'll whine because they didn't elect the smarmy Mr. Green, and the Sharpton crowd will make a lot of noise about "He's not OUR mayor !"

My fiancee is pretty typical of the demographic that put Bloomberg over the top. She's white, professional, young, and a lifelong Democrat who has NEVER voted for a Republican. Yet she cast her first Republican votes yesterday. Why? Because she realized that she hated Green -- it came like a revelation in the night. And she realized that she hated our local city council candidate too (Bill DeBlasio, who ran Hillary's campaign). All the cumulative dishonesty and backstabbing that's characterized the Democrats for her adult life finally sunk in. And she rebelled.

So how do I feel about a moderate leftist versus a hard leftist? Pretty good, actually. In this case, it's what New York needs -- not policywise, of course (a good conservative would restore that town its former glory) -- but in the sense that it takes away the social stigma that comes with voting Republican. Believe me, if my fiancee did it, the Democratic spell is forever broken.

Just my two cents' worth.

Schundler was abandoned by the official Republican Party in NJ after he refused to let their boy Franks walk into the nomination after losing to Corzine.

If the Republican Party would work to get Republicans elected rather than stand around fellating each other, Schundler and others like him might win.

IMHO, Green lost because...

1- His "I could of done as good or better than Rudy" statement.... instead of saying something that even his supporters surely found laughable, he could have demonstrated a little humility that would have paid off considering the events.

2- He didn't have to go as hard on Sharpton as he did. There is no one in NYC ignorant about the Reverend, and in the end it really p!ssed off Ferrer's supporters.

3- Even NYC liberals appreciate the lowered crime rate in this city, no one likes getting mugged between lattes. I think many people saw a slow return to those days under Green.

4- His opponent was also Jewish and also liberal (that equals a major split n a prime DEM voting block....and they vote!!!).

5- Bloomies business sucess gave people some managerial confidence...even if his personality was grating.

These are in not particular order.

All I needed to know was that Goonberg repeatedly praised the Pig in the Pantsuit. That tells me all I need to know about where he's coming from.

I am happy to know that fellating is no longer just democratic! Politics(?) as usual

When a crisis causes the most liberal voters in the country to dispense with the touchy-feely, whiny bromides of identity politics and vote with their heads, conservatives should take heart. Perhaps the Left, long bereft of any useful ideas, really is on its last legs.

Nothing pure about Green. He was a slimy low life and his true colors came to light when he thought he might lose the primary and then again when he thought he might lose to Bloomberg. New Yorkers have had enough trash in their lives to last a lifetime and they also understand that a return to Dinkins time was not a good idea. New York needs a businessman now.....and they got one!!!

As long as there are people out here who think that being able to kill their unborn baby is the most important issue in their lifetime, a pro life conservative will not be elected to high office in New Jersey.

Future elections will be Black Panther Party vs. Rockefeller Republican

I think you have that right. Isn't that a start, NYC GOP Chick? Come in out of the cold!

I agree with you. The disappearance of the "stigma" of voting Republican is no small thing in NYC.

very good thoughts..however do some of you die hard conservatives understand the dinamics of what RUDY actually has done to this city even with his liberal slant? He loves NYC and he has proved it over and over again....the only resistence he gets is from the NYC slums....makes one wonder if they like it that way....

If Rudy could have touched the teachers union at least 10 % there would have been a huge change.....

There are trade offs but quality of life should never be one..why some choose to remain stagnant I shall never understand...

my epiphany was in early 2000 driving down broadway with my husband and kids.... seeing that immense city and all its people...and realising that BJCLINTON came from small town arkansas and knowing what sickness they had wrought federally....it was the driving through the actual city and seeing how grand...and how much quality of life had improved...

Hows littlerock i wonder????