While we have repeatedly jabbed the political press for its endless speculation on the 2008 presidential race, we haven’t yet taken a swipe at the anticipatory coverage of the 2009 New York mayoral contest. After all, that election is still nearly three years away.
But it’s never too early to speculate (especially on a slow, post-holiday news day), and so without further ado we take our first poke, prodded by a Monday New York Post story (headline: “Quinn mayoral buzz”) which told us that “City Council Speaker Christine Quinn kicked off a five-borough ‘Community Conversation’ in Brooklyn — raising speculation that she’s considering a run for mayor.”
Yes, Quinn “has crisscrossed the city talking to communities about hospital closings, universal pre-kindergarten, hunger issues, reforms in the Buildings Department, and the Campaign for Fiscal Equity on behalf of city school kids.” “You can’t have good policy if you don’t go visit all parts of the city,” the Democrat told the newspaper, “insisting there’s no politics involved in her effort to reach all corners of the Big Apple.”
So one of the city’s political leaders is talking with the city’s residents. Sounds suspicious.
But there’s more. Audiences are responding warmly to her note that “the pull of lower Manhattan can be so strong, you don’t even realize you haven’t reached out,” for example, and Quinn has also appeared next to Mayor Michael Bloomberg for many announcements, such as last week’s unveiling of “the creation of a citywide food czar — an idea she first brought up last March.” “All of this,” said the Post, “is increasing her profile as a mayoral contender in 2009.” (Or is she just doing her job? They report, you decide.)
The Post corralled a few middling quotes to support its thesis, before its story devolved into some nicely balanced, he said/she said mayoral race speculation.
“It’s obviously to set herself up for citywide office,” said a “political insider.” Obviously.
Yet Maura Keaney, a top Quinn aide, “pointed out that her boss is an organizer who works best by talking directly to those involved.”
“Doing things out in the field comes natural to her,” Keaney countered. “It’s not political but an extension of her work as a council member.”
Noting that “The media-savvy Quinn keeps a tight rein on colleagues,” the Post finished by anonymously quoting one who offered that Quinn is “certainly someone that could continue the Giuliani and Bloomberg legacies.”
To sum up, then, Quinn is reaching out to her constituents and doing her job — which may or may not pave the way for a run for mayor in 2009. That’s some illuminatin’ speculatin’.
Edward B. Colby was a writer at CJR Daily.