Feinberg/AP via New York Daily NewsYou will never read the above headline in any of the local papers, but quiet as its kept,  a key component of Michael Bloomberg’s assault on opponent Bill Thompson’s political record is a stealth indictment of his predecessor in Gracie Mansion.  Time and again Bloomberg and his allies have referred to Thompson’s reign as President of the Board of Education.  These repeated referrences have the effect of making people believe that Thompson was this city’s school’s chancellor–which he wasn’t. The people most influential in shaping New York City’s Board of Education were former mayor Rudy Giuliani and the slew of chancellors appointed during his term as New York’s mayor, therefore when Bloomberg castigates Thompson for his failures at the Board of Education, he’s actually criticizing Rudy Giuliani’s mayoral record. Further complicating this drama is that most city politicos would likely attest that Giuliani isn’t deserving of this criticism either, because what Bloomberg is essentially chiding Giuliani for is not the merits of his education initiatives, but rather Giuliani’s failure to gain mayoral control of the board of education. 

Clearly this revelation is not the smoking gun that Thompson operatives are likely hoping will surface before next Tuesday’s election.  However, it does help shed light on Thompson’s biggest obstacle during this campaign.  Money is often cited as Bloomberg’s biggest advantage over Thompson, and to the extent that it has allowed him to flood the airwaves and mailboxes with ads, lure top talent to his staff and suppress fervent opposition from some notable democrats money does matter.  However, if there was any election where a candidate running on a shoe string budget could topple a wealthy opponent, this is the one.  Instead what has emerged as Thompson’s achilles heel is that he’s had the political misfortune of holding two offices with which most New Yorkers are least familiar. 

Money matters in the sense that Bloomberg has gladly taken on the responsibility of re-introducing Thompson to this city’s electorate. 

Yet by paying too much attention on Bloomberg’s wealth we risk missing the nuances of his campaign strategy, and how for example education has become the main issue in this year’s election.  Of all the accomplishments that he could have touted, and of all the issues that he could have staked a claim against opposition to against Thompson, it is worthwhile to consider why Bloomberg has chosen education-and why Thompson has had such difficulty challenging Bloomberg’s education policies. 

Were Thompson guilty of the “same old politics” as Bloomberg attests, we would have seen him standing alongside Al Sharpton criticizing the mayor’s education policies.  But since Sharpton is a Bloomberg ally on education reform that photo-op is unlikely to happen. This is one reason Bloomberg’s recent barnstorming adventure through Borough Park and Howard Beach with Giuliani where the former mayor credited Bloomberg for keeping the city safe and drew charges of race baiting in some sectors because up until then this year’s campaign has managed to steer clear of familiar political race narratives. 

Education is to Bloomberg what crime is to Giuliani; thus, the irony of watching Giuliani stump for Bloomberg by making cryptic allusions to David Dinkins’ regime was exquisite.  Similar to how Giuliani has gotten more than his fair share of credit for a drop in crime rates that had already begun during Dinkins’ tenure, Bloomberg has managed to build on the successes of Giuliani’s efforts on education without giving him credit.  In fact, by continuing to insinuate that Thompson lorded over a failing school system, Bloomberg is in effect dissing his predecessor. 

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