CityHallNews.com

Editorial:
A New Yorker in the White House

Whatever happens between now and Nov. 4, 2008, having a few New Yorkers in presidential contention cannot be a bad thing for the Empire State. Representing the frontlines in metropolitan needs and urban renewal and the prime terrorist target in America, has caused special sensitivities in all four people whose names are on people’s lips—Sen. Hillary Clinton, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki.

Many expect more benefits to the city, now that our new governor makes his home in the five boroughs. Imagine what it might mean to have the first New Yorker since Franklin Roosevelt in the Oval Office, come January 2009. And if that person is either a former or current mayor, there is every reason to believe that fighting for more cops on our streets, better homeland security resources and a fairer share of the federal transportation budget will not be quite as hard.

Sure, Giuliani and Bloomberg would have to play to a wider audience than the Big Apple to get elected. But neither of these men has been given much to pandering while in the process of governing, and it would be surprising to see major changes in these temperaments after an inauguration, no matter what is said on the campaign trail.

As this month’s cover story points out, one in every 14 Americans lives in the New York metropolitan area, and is therefore at least somewhat dependent on what has happened to the city during the Giuliani and Bloomberg mayoralties. The country would be unrecognizable if it were to experience the level of economic growth and overall reinvigoration that has defined the city in the last 13 years.

Even if someone else wins, the presence of a mayor in the race would redefine the playing field. Candidates would be forced to pay attention to the demands of the city—and others nationwide—as recent Electoral College breakdowns have otherwise prevented. We would hear less about ethanol subsidies and more about things like education, an issue mishandled—despite being very much on the national radar—and homelessness, a local issue which has somehow fallen off of it.

Clinton and Pataki are certainly no strangers to these topics (Pataki may not have done enough about them, but he is certainly familiar with them), but no one has more experience dealing with city issues than mayors. They are the ones who could truly change the debate if they decide to run.

Disagree with their politics, or, especially in the case of the brusque Giuliani, dislike their personalities. But no one can argue that these men have both been intensely partisan for the city which elected them. As we approach the first race in 54 years without a sitting president or vice president running, having them in the mix is a possibility every New Yorker should savor.

Just over 31 years ago, Mayor Abe Beame returned from a begging trip to Washington empty-handed. “Ford to City: Drop Dead,” read the famous Daily News headline. Three years earlier, Beame’s predecessor, John Lindsay, had abandoned his quixotic White House run. President Lindsay’s time in office would probably have been far from perfect, but there would have been no Watergate scandal, or any such rebuffs to the Big Apple.

That is not the worst fate to imagine—an alternative universe that perhaps New Yorkers should have in mind as they ponder the months and years which remain of the 2008 presidential race.