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PUBLIC ADVOCATE BILL de Blasio, who ran an upstart campaign pledging to fight New York City’s economic inequality, emerged as the surprising top choice in the Democratic mayoral primary, but could still face weeks — and another electoral fight — before becoming his party’s nominee.
The chaotic campaign to replace Mayor Michael Bloomberg, which featured Anthony Weiner’s latest sexting scandal and at least three lead changes in the polls, was fittingly plunged into uncertainty again after the Tuesday primary bled into early Wednesday.
With 97 per cent of precincts reporting, de Blasio had about 40.2 percent of the total vote, which puts him a whisker above the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid triggering an automatic 1 October run-off. If he cannot maintain that, he will face former city Comptroller Bill Thompson, who has 26 per cent, for a potentially gruelling three-week, one-on-one showdown, with the winner advancing to face Republican nominee Joe Lhota in the general election.
But it may take a week or more before it is known whether that battle will be fought at all.
The campaign will take a pause Wednesday as the city stops to observe the anniversary of the 11 September terrorist attacks. Later this week, election officials will recount all the ballots cast Tuesday. It will likely take until early next week before they tabulate an additional 30,000 or more votes as absentee ballots arrive by mail and paperwork comes in from voters who had problems at the polls.
(Anthony Weiner received just 5 per cent of the Democratic vote after his sexting scandals. Pic: AP Photo/Jin Lee)
Christine Quinn
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the early frontrunner who was seeking become the city’s first woman and openly gay mayor, finished third at 16 per cent, followed by current city comptroller John Liu at 7 per cent and Weiner at 5 per cent.
De Blasio, who was flanked by the interracial family he made a centerpiece of his campaign ads, made no mention of the potential runoff in his speech to supporters late Tuesday.
“We are better as a city when we make sure that everyone has a shot,” de Blasio told the raucous crowd. “We begin tonight.”
With de Blasio so close to 40 percent, Democratic leaders may pressure Thompson to drop out of the race in the name of party unity. Exit polling shows that de Blasio would handily defeat Thompson in a runoff, 52 to 34 percent, with 9 percent saying they would stay home.
But Thompson made it clear Tuesday he would compete in a potential run-off.
“Three more weeks! Three more weeks!” chanted Thompson, the party’s 2009 nominee. “This is far from over.”
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So sad.
All for oil. Disgusting!
Shocking stuff altogether.
Just a horrendous situation. I wonder will Hussein Obama still tout Yemen as one of his “great foreign policy success stories”?
What is happening is the continuation of the Sunni/Shia conflict that originated following the death of Mahomed when the religion split on the interpretation of how Islam would develop. This conflict is being acted out in a modern weapon context. For them the normal rules of war do not exist.
Indeed: a Kalashnikov makes a mighty warrior out of a little kid in todays world and the dastardly British and french liberated the Arabs from the gentle rule of the ottomans who had kept the lid on religious strife for centuries. By the way- does anybody think hitler would have paid for the oil or be coerced by suicide bombers?
Gaining a better understanding of what is happening in Yemen today , and why .
Yemen – the Big Picture. US Sponsored Civil Wars
Peter Koenig, economist and geopolitical analyst, worked in Yemen in the 1990s and early 2000s.
“Yemen is a patchwork of tribes, the result of former colonies, therefore made vulnerable for conflicts; easily ignitable conflicts. A situation left behind on purpose by the old British colonial masters, today servants to the Washington Empire. That’s the name of the game throughout the Middle East – and eventually throughout the world. Divide and rule, ( a strategy successfully implemented in N.Ireland for many years)– by Zionist-Anglo-Saxon organized and never-ending chaos.
It is certainly true, where ever the US and its NATO cronies put their heavy boots, they create lasting misery and chaos. But these never-ending implanted internal conflicts and civil wars in far-away countries are produced by design, not to end soon. They are multi-benefit endeavors, lubricating the US war machine, assuring the ‘need’ for US intervention and occupation, and they are paving the way for US / western transnational corporations’ unabated and merciless exploitation of the victims’ riches, looting their natural resources and enslaving their people. The globalized warriors, the emperor’s proxy armies, NATO and NATO-CIA trained mercenaries encounter little resistance from the population. People oppressed by civil strife have no time and energy to defend their rights, resources and country. They must fight for their sheer survival.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/yemen-the-big-picture/5440957
“It is certainly true, where ever the US and its NATO cronies put their heavy boots, they create lasting misery and chaos.”
I’m sure the people liberated from Nazi occupation in N.W and S. Europe, from Japanese occupation in the Pacific region and from communist occupation in Korea would beg to differ with that assertion.
Honestly, I read that entire article and couldn’t find a single piece of evidence to back up the author’s claims. It’s one long opinion piece with absolutely zero facts in there. All it amounts to is the angry ranting of someone who obviously has an issue with both the US and backing up arguments.
@Pat O’D Also to get a better understanding of fantasy vs. reality see more of Peter Koenig’s make-belief,-
“The Kouachi brother, as well as Amedy Coulibaly, the suspect in the hostage drama of the Hyper Cacher food market in eastern Paris, whose identities and past activities were well recorded in French police files, were most likely pre-identified as perpetrators of the probable pre-meditated murderous attacks that left 17 people dead within three days of horror in Paris; attacks so well organized and carried out that they could easily wear the stamp of French special forces, CIA, Mossad or all three of them – because, cui bono – who benefits? – Perhaps the Masters of all three of them?’
Brutality of Islamic state.It shows no mercy,not even towards innocent children.
How many have been killed by previous drone strikes ?
Who is guilty of starting all this trouble in the Middle East.
Yeah, because the Middle East was an idyllic paradise for the previous millennia.
At the minute it’s american backed Saudis doing the bombing.
The same Saudi lads that armed ISIS.
Davedunne
The very same lads.
have your say