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Friday, November 01, 2002
Why is Charlie Rangel mailing campaign literature with a picture of Mike Bloomberg? This is a question all Democrats should be asking about a very unconventional piece of campaign literature recently sent from his office. Among the other quirks is the lack of a "Paid for By" notice, and the odd way that he attempts to make it look like an official mailing rather than campaign literature.
UPDATE: I just placed a call to Rangel's office, and was refused a chance to speak to anyone on the record. One guy, who repeatedly said that he'd "take my comments under advisement,"(he wasn't the guy who made the literature, though -- they didn't connect me to whoever did). He said of Bloomberg, "even though he's a Republican, we still have to work with the mayor, he is committed to working with elected officials in New York." When I pointed out that there was no picture of Rangel with, say, George Pataki, and that it would seem odd, in campaign literature, for him to be posing with someone whom he ostensibly campaigned against in 2001 and would, again ostensibly, campaign against in 2005, he said he "hadn't really looked at it like that," while declaring that "the congressman is one of the staunchest Democrats in the United States," while noting that this line of argument was "a valid point."
State Democratic Party Chair Denny Farrell has no comment.
State Assemblymember Adam Clayton Powell is out of town, and will be back Monday.
Mike Bloomberg's Press Office took a message and promised to get back to me.
Steven I. Weiss 1:30:00 PM
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