How many people here would have voted for the Liberal Party candidate for NYC Mayor in 93 and 97?

[brooklynite]

I am speaking, of course, about...Rudy Giuliani.

Politics in NYC is complicated and Party labels tend to be fluid. Popular mayor Ed Koch once ran at the candidate of the Democratic/Republican/Liberal/Conservative Parties. Democrats outnumber Republicans 7-1, so you can't win, regardless of label, without their support.

Bloomberg ran as a Republican as a flag of convenience because 1) they didn't have a significant candidate of their own, and 2) the Democratic Primary was going to be (and was) a messy battle between Green and Ferrer that tore Party unity apart (fun fact: I have a photo I took at the post-Primary "Unity Dinner of.....Donald Trump). You may not like the political calculation, but that's politics here. Sort of like, hopping into the Democratic Primary when you're actually an Independent.

[hlthe2b]

1. I'm willing to focus on his pattern of behavior and statements over the most recent 4-5 years...

That said, even that benefit-of-the-doubt requires one hell of a lot of explanation, that thus far has not been forthcoming. Tonight should be interesting if stomach-churning.

Mandatory qualifier for some of my DU colleagues: I said that I'd FOCUS on behavior and statements over the most recent 4-5 years. I didn't say I'd ignore what came earlier...

[squirecam]

2. It wasn't running at a republican

But his actual governing that matters.

[Voltaire2]

3. Stop and frisk. Muslim surveillance.

Center right free market economic policy positions.

It’s not about the label it is about what he has done and what his political positions are.

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. I would have voted for John Lindsy on the Liberal Line

I understand the point you are making. I am not so bothered by Michael Bloomberg having run for Mayor on the Republican line in NYC. I care much more about the beliefs he held and the policies he promoted. I think your comparison with an Independent choosing to run under the Democratic Party banner is a fair one. That only gets you so far however. Bernie Sanders did not go to the Republican National Convention to endorse George W. Bush over John Kerry a couple of years after Bush plunged us into a disastrous war in Iraq, for example.

[melman]

5. Giuliani ran as a Republican all three times he ran

As you certainly know. Just pointing that out for people not aware.

[DanTex]

6. Giuliani ran as a Republican, as did Bloomberg.

Yeah, in New York there are a bunch of random small parties, and candidates can run on the ticket of multiple parties. But those little parties don't make any difference. Giuliani was a Republican. Bloomberg was a Republican.

Bloomberg ran and governed as a center-right Republican, liberal on some social issues, conservative on economic issues. Most Democrats voted against him.

[brooklynite]

8. With a 7-1 margin, how did Democratic voters NOT elect a Democrat?

If they chose not to vote, or vote third Party (why does that sound familiar?) they got the outcome they wanted.

[ret5hd]

7. Protect my millions!!!