So much for loyalty.
Democratic mayoral nominee Bill de Blasio dodged and weaved rather than defend his former boss, Mayor David Dinkins, when it came to comparing him to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
During the third and final televised debate, de Blasio, who had been a low-level aide during the Dinkins administration, evaded the question when asked whether voters would prefer a Dinkins or Giuliani era.
“I think voters are looking ahead,” said de Blasio, the public advocate. “I think they’re not caught up in what the city was like 20 years ago — they want to talk about solutions today.”
Lhota, who was deputy mayor for Giuliani, didn’t hesitate to draw a distinction between the two leaders — pointing to a reduction in crime rates and an enhanced quality of life in the city under Giuliani.
“I’ll take the Giuliani years over the Dinkins years anytime,” said Lhota, who has been warning of a return to the high crime rate of the 1980s if de Blasio wins City Hall. “There’s no reason to go back to that period of time — which was a horror.”
The 90-minute debate saw the candidates get into fewer testy exchanges than in the two prior meetings, but Lhota predicted that he’d score a surprise knockout in Tuesday’s election.
“These comments about attaching me to the national Republican Party, it reminds me of that boxing match between Rocky and Drago,” said Lhota, referring to the hero and villain in the film “Rocky IV.”
“I mean, quite honestly, we know what happened in that match — the underdog won,” said Lhota, just hours after a Quinnipiac Poll showed him down 39 points among likely voters.
“New York City loves an underdog. I am that underdog.”
Moments later, Lhota’s campaign tweeted a picture of de Blasio’s head superimposed on Drago’s body — sporting red, Soviet shorts.
.@deBlasioNYC is DRAGO #NYC2013 pic.twitter.com/Jrev3xuIWh
— Joe Lhota for Mayor (@JoeLhota4Mayor) October 31, 2013
After the debate, de Blasio lightheartedly gave his best Rocky rebuttal.
“I’m a big [Sylvester] Stallone fan, so I personally relate more to the Rocky character,” he said.
“I started out as the underdog for sure,” de Blasio added of the Democratic primary, where he had initially polled in fourth place. “I was the underdog for a long time.”
During a lightning round of questions, Lhota and de Blasio each estimated that their families spent $400 to $450 on groceries per month — a small amount for families of three and four, respectively.