Hillary will help the New York gamblers?
For a while, it looked as if every day might become Presidents’ Day in New York, cause another two locals fighting for the big prize in November: the Republican former mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and the Democratic junior senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton. We even prepared for a therefore in case the present mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, he of ever-evolving party status, jumped into the race because he figured the rest of America couldn’t do without him.
Now, as another Presidents’ Day has come and gone, it seems more and more likely that New York will be shut out of the presidential election. ’Tis our lot to be treated as a place that the political parties tap for campaign cash, not for national talent. Presidential candidates of either major party waste little time campaigning in our navy blue state. They certainly waste no breath on issues of special concern to New York and other cities.
It is still possible, of course, that Mrs. Clinton will defeat Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, which both seek while collecting full salaries for their neglected day jobs. Last week, both skipped an important vote on a Senate bill that would ban waterboarding and other interrogation techniques deemed by many to be torture.
Still, the likelihood grows that neither he nor Mrs. Clinton will be able to hang on. Ask the folks who make a living at this sort of thing: professional oddsmakers. Bodoglife.com, a leading online gambling site, makes Mrs. Clinton a 7-3 shot to win the Democratic nomination. Mr. Obama is listed as the 4-15 favorite, meaning that you have to put up $15 to win a mere $4.
Mr. Bloomberg’s chances of winning in November are put at a distant 60-1. He must also contend with a hex that seems to have been cast on City Hall.
Mr. Giuliani’s flameout is the latest example. No New York mayor has won higher office since John T. Hoffman was elected New York governor in 1868. Even the Chicago Cubs, nearly a full century since their last World Series triumph, have not labored under as enduring a curse.
By contrast, Senator John McCain, the likely Republican nominee for president, got back to Washington in time to vote against the bill.
So while anything may happen, this isn’t shaping up as New York’s year. Our next best shot may lie with Gov. Eliot Spitzer. He is said to harbor presidential ambitions. And look how brilliantly he’s been going about it.
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