Anthony Weiner.Photo: Getty Images
Even though there are plenty of national issues to talk about in Denver today (we have a whole slew of reporters there and will be bringing you updates all day long!), a handful of Big Apple delegates can’t get New York City politics off their minds. Ever since Mayor Bloomberg noted last week that the City Council could extend term limits for themselves and for the city’s chief executive without a citywide vote, career politicians have been facing the fact that another four years of Bloomberg may really be possible. And not all of them seem pleased with the prospect. Mark Green, who ran against the mayor in 2001, told the Daily News in Denver that Mayor Mike would “cross the line” if he pushed for a Council-arranged change on term limits. “It is unethical and impermissible to change the rules in the middle of an election to benefit the mayor and the Council, who are the ones drafting and enacting the legislation,” Green said. City Controller Bill Thompson, who is gearing up to run next year, had similar feelings. “I’m not going to get angry at anyone about it at this point,” he said, “but I think it would be wrong not to at least take it to the voters.” Over at the Post, a spokesman for Anthony Weiner (another mayoral hopeful) repeated that he supports repealing term limits, but would insist upon a public vote.
Since polls show that the public is largely against changing term limits (even for Bloomberg, who they seem to want to stick around), this is a pretty safe position for candidates who want to run in 2009. Now that we’ve addressed this issue, we’ll return you to your regularly scheduled incessant convention coverage, which will be filling the role the Olympics occupied for the last two weeks. We’d thought that Barack Obama would be playing the Michael Phelps role, but in light of recent polls, it looks like he’s more of a He Kexin type.
DEM DUO EYES TERM WARFARE VS. BLOOMY [NYP]
Pol: Bloomberg Would ‘Cross Line’ if He KOs Term Limits [NYDN]
Earlier: Paterson: A Third Bloomberg Term Is A “Great Idea”
