RACE BAITING

Spring has arrived here in New York, and with it come its familiar signs -- foggy mornings, young women in pajamas walking their dogs, and political ads crowding the television airwaves like psychos on the subway. And lucky us -- we get to see them for two different states!

When you realize this required several takes to 
capture every angle, Fulop's feat isn't so
impressive.

Across the Hudson River, the Democratic primary candidates for New Jersey governor are big on images and scary words. Steve Fulop runs up a long flight of stairs in his gym clothes to prove that he's in shape to take on Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Navy vet and current House of Representatives member Mikie Sherrill stands by a helicopter ready to take aim at Donald Trump and Elon Musk. 

I'm pretty sure Trump did a similar ad
against Biden.

Sean Spiller, former mayor of Montclair, uses mock-ups of newspaper headlines
warning us about the damage done by Donald Trump and Elon Musk. In the silliest spot, A.I.-generated images show Josh Gottheimer boxing Donald Trump (presumably Musk is Trump's cornerman). All of these ads leave me wondering if J.D. Vance is embarrassed or relieved that the candidates don't consider him worth mentioning. 

It would appear, then, it doesn't matter which of these candidates wins the primary since they're all promising the same outcomes. Not so in New York, where the two leading candidates for Mayor are different enough to make things interesting. If politics is ever interesting.

Polling at 37%, Andrew Cuomo is the favorite to win on name recognition alone. His commercials deftly avoid any mention of past brushes with corruption and groping which cost him his previous job of Governor. (By the way, you know a politician is hungry for any kind of power when they try to get a job at a lower position than before.) 

A rare photo of Andrew Cuomo not getting handsy
with a young female.

Unlike the Jersey governor ads, Cuomo's are strictly of the handshake and speechifying varieties; no aircrafts or boxing matches here. Yet unable to change his questionable ways, the image to the right is from a commercial created by an allegedly-independent PAC in collusion with Cuomo's official campaign. This failed sleight of hand cost the former governor $622,000 in fines, not one cent of which will cost him a vote. Name recognition -- it's a good thing!

Speaking of name recognition, Zohran Mamdani has gotten traction by being the only semi-serious challenge to Cuomo, at least to younger voters. Over 30 years younger than the former governor, Mamdani proudly boasts of "progressive values" that has boosted him to number one in the hearts of 18-49 year-olds. Those votes have placed him in second place at (drumroll, please)... 18%. 

Mamdani hoping that Republican voters
confuse him with J.D. Vance.

That's 20 points behind King Cuomo. Only in New York is that considered a serious candidate by a news media desperate for any kind of excitement in an otherwise tedious race. Finally realizing the dreaded Babyboomers must be served, Mamdani has made a couple of key changes in his campaign style. First, he's traded in his hoodies for suits that make him look more Mayoral and less John Fetterman. 

Unfortunately, not all the older New Yorkers are warming up to a leftist Muslim endorsed by a former U.S. Representative who called the rapes and killing of Israelis on Oct. 7 "a lie". Nor do they take to headlines like "Mamdani passes on condemning the Holocaust". Stuff like this is concerning in a city second only to Tel Aviv with the largest Jewish population in the world. Another worry involves black voters, 50% of whom support Cuomo to the 8% Mamdani can boast of. 

"I'll take pandering to minorities for $100, Ken."

These problems seem to explain two commercials I've noticed this week running on Jeopardy! They're essentially identical except for the narrators. One of them features the voice of a 60ish Jewish woman. The second, a 50ish Black man. Neither hits the "accents" very hard, but just enough to let the target audiences know that Mamdani is safe to vote for. 

The first spot runs as Jeopardy! went into a commercial break, while the second is in the same break just before returning to the show. Apparently, the Mamdani campaign believes Jewish people are more likely to watch commercials, while Black viewers go the bathroom and return 30 seconds before the second half of the show. 

And if you wonder where Mayor Eric Adams is, well, as WABC-TV News reports, the Democrat-turned-Independent-turned-loser is polling at 8% "and falling". Look for his next ad to feature someone with a Turkish accent.

                                         

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