Saturday, July 26, 2008

Sparks Flying

Politics is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, coast for a while, and then have a hell of a close.
-- Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)

Some of the current political races are becoming testier.

Pete Gleason is weighing his options for City Council in ‘09 and faces a field which currently includes Julie Menin, more remotely Kathryn Freed (inhibited we think due to financial constraints), Madeleine Wils, and Margaret Chin.
Gleason is seen as an emotional favorite to many in SoHo; Menin has the Board #1 faction and parts of Tribeca; Wils has an alternate slice of Tribeca and Board #1; and Chin has a strong field in Chinatown.
What Gleason has in popularity he lacks in cash. The reverse is true for Menin and Wils – although, slick as she is, Wils is preferred by many.
She’s smarter and knows how things work.
Chin has Chinatown but needs to reach out among others and lose the provincialism of a primarily Asian candidate.

The lay of the land has Wils as the favorite, were she to run at this point due to money and political savvy.
Gleason is seen as someone who can be trusted.


At a fundraiser held this Saturday, Bernie Cohen, former attorney and consultant for Nora Anderson’s Surrogate’s Court bid – a lucrative position – apparently took a swing at Eben Bronfman, Special Assistant to D.A. Bob Morgenthau. It connected.
Bronfman, who was holding his daughter’s hand at the time and was about to leave, caught the unexpected punch. Various obscenities accompanied the blow.
Apparently, Eben has been seen in the company of Anderson’s opponent (Milton Tingling) and he speculates that this was the reason for Cohen’s actions.
Bronfman, however, wasn’t amused that he received this “show of emotion” in front of 80 people.

It’s a hot July.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually, Mr. Cohen a disbarred lawyer and convicted felon who punched Mr. Bronfman was also screaming obscenities about how Mr. Bronfman Had better leave Maria Clarke alone, this is Mr. Bronfman's ex-mother in law who is evicting her daughter and Mr. Bronfman's children from there home. Mr.Bronfman would prefer his children and ex-wife not be homeless-- go figure. Apparently, Mr. Cohen believes children and woman should be homeless, but it is really none of his business anyway!

Anonymous said...

I really do not believe that Wils has the "balls" to go against Menin in that race, she will only run if Menin drops out. If that is the case Gleason is the clear front runner.