(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Is it already time for the 2009 mayoral race? Insiders believe it officially started last Wednesday, when Christine Quinn unloaded a handful of mayoral-sounding proposals in a speech to the Association for a Better New York. Her rival, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, will give the association an earful on October 23. Thompson has the money: He’s out-raised Quinn and that other Democratic mayoral aspirant, Representative Anthony Weiner. And he’s got the power; he’s won the last two citywide races. Yet polls show that not too many people know who he is or what he does—so he’s got a plan. Call it Operation Name Recognition. “We’ve stepped it up a bit,” Thompson says, speaking of going to more events and meeting with the press more (last week: the Staten Island Advance edit board). A Thompson primer: What does he do to relax? “Sleep late and play golf.” What book is he reading now? “I’m not reading any book right now, but there’s a Robert Ludlum somewhere sitting around.” What’s his favorite cocktail? “A frozen margarita.”

Have good intel? Send tips to intel@nymag.com.

Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Geoffrey Gray
• Table of Contents: October 22, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!