New York polls are open from 6am till 9pm Tuesday. As a supporter from the start of the mayoral bid of Congressman Anthony Weiner, the only candidate who would have a chance of beating Mike Bloomberg in November and a figure who's been head-and-shoulders above his competitors intellectually, I've been delighted by his recent surge in the polls--he's now a solid second, although there still seems to be a large number of undecided voters.

Under New York law, if no candidate receives 40% of a vote, we'll have a runoff between the top two. To me, quite apart from Weiner's surge from fourth to second place, the remarkable story of the campaign is the continued frontrunner status of Fernando Ferrer. A figure who all but defines the moniker"retread," Ferrer has spent the campaign confirming his repuation as someone who demonstrates a flexibility when it comes to major issues (once pro-life, now pro-choice; once committed to civil disobedience in the Abner Daillo beating, now saying it wasn't a crime; one committed to a class-warfare campaign tactic, then positioning himself as a cross-class unifier, and now heading back to old territory). Most striking, however, is that Ferrer openly undermined the Dems' 2001 nominee, Mark Green. For the party to turn around and give him the nomination in 2005 would send an unusual message about the value of party loyalty.

Should be an interesting evening.

Sergio Ramirez - 9/13/2005

Not exactly "shot" 41 times. 41 shots were fired, but most missed.

Leo Edward Casey - 9/13/2005

Actually it is a conflation of Amidou Diallo, the unarmed African immigrant who was shot by police 41 times and the instant case involving Ferrer, and Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant violently sodomized with a broomstick by NY police. There is no shortage of high profile abuse cases by NYC police in recent years, but our friend KC seems to have a little problem keeping them straight.

Sergio Ramirez - 9/13/2005

Isn't that Abner Louima?