Demagogue

I always had a good deal of fun with the Manhattan Borough President race when I lived on that blessed island. It was like being on another planet where politicians strove to be more-liberal-than-thou in their quest for an office that was, so far as I could tell, meaningless (except as a platform from which to run for mayor).

What could be more fun? How about when worlds collide: Fox meets a Democratic candidate for borough president.

I suppose part of me is outraged about this, deep down. But mostly I congratulate Fox for boosting Ellner's candidacy. The key paragraph in the Times article is buried near the bottom:

Mr. Ellner...is not considered a favorite to win the borough president's race and his advertisement was devised in part to jar voters into paying attention to his candidacy in a field of nine Democrats....Fox's refusal to run the ad is likely to help Mr. Ellner's aims.

The average Manahattan Democratic voter, knowing nothing else about Ellner, will assume he must be good if Fox is out to get him. And I bet more than a few people are checking out the "controversial" ad on Ellner's website and paying more attention than they would if they were TiVo'ing past it on TV.