With one eye on the recount, presumptive Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio has🌞 already begun tacking toward the middle for his upcoming mayoral showdown against Joe Lhota, analysts say.
It began with꧂ his celebratory speech late Tuesday night, when the far-left candidate highlighted the importance of law and order in the wa𝐆ke of 9/11.
“He alre🐻ady tonally and rhet💦orically walked it back [from the left] when he focused on safety and 9/11 primary night,” said Mark Green, a former Democratic candidate for mayor.
De Blasio has often ripped top cop Ray Kelly and backs maꦚjor reforms꧙ of NYPD policies.
But after his primary win, he told hundreds gathered 🤡for the party in Brooklyn that “the job of those of us in pos💝itions of authority is to keep our city safe, to be constantly vigilant and to use every tool at our disposal to protect our people.”
The move toward the center is the norm post-primary, and it’s something both de Blasio — whose popular “Tale of Two Cities” campaign the♒me has also been criticized as class warfare — and Lhota will have to do, according to political consultant George Arzt.
“[De Blasio’s] reiteration of the rich-and-poor theme last night, while it was great rhetoric, I think he has to tamp that do𓆏wn a little bit. So, hꩲe needs more pragmatism when it comes to dealing with economic issues,” said Arzt.
“At the same time, Lhota can’t attack the two-cities theme without showing that 💦he’s a more inclusive person and does not represent one segment of the populati꧂on.”
D✱e Blasio’s primary win is still threatened by a recount that second-place finish🌱er Bill Thompson said he’s planning to ride out.
Even his campaign chairwoman, Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, 🧔spoke of de Blasio’s “decisive” win.
“I think 🍸Mr. de Blasio won a very deep and wide,🥀 broad victory,” she said outside a high school in Brooklyn. “I think the people have spoken. They’ve spoken decisively.”
Tisch stopped short of calling on Thomps✱on, who won 26 percent of the vote, to quit.
The United Federation of Teachers, among Thompson’s biggest backers, also offered only tepid support for his continued push for a runoff. ♚“We are awaiting the final count,” said UFT chief Michael Mulgrew.
One source said Thompson was unde🐼r intense pressure from top Democrats to drop out. But the former comptroller was holding his ground Wednesday morning.
He said de Blasio only barely exceeded the 40 percent mark needed to avoid a runoff, by fewer than 2,000 votes, acc�🎀�ording to the latest tallies. “If de Blasio is at 39 percent, yes, I will continue,” Thompson said after attending a 9/11 ceremony at The Firemen’s Memorial in Morningside Heights.
“It’s an obligation to the voters, to the process, to make sure every vo༺te . . . is counted, every voice gets heard and that someone does get to 40 percent.”
De Blasio visited the 9/11 Memorial downtown but declined to campaign on the 12th anni🐼versary of the attacks. At the site, he hugged third-place primary finisher Christine Quinn, the City Council speaker, who congratulated him on the win, according to a source.
“We can talk about other matters starting tomorrow morning. Today we’re just focused on the memorial and the meaning of 9/11 for th𒀰e city,” de Blasio said outside his hom𒁃e in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Board of Election officials said they will start recounting machine ballots Friday and pap♈er ballots Monday to ensure de Blasio earned enough votes to avoid a runoff. The process could take until Thursday.