What you say can be held against you — and almost immediately, if you’re Bill Thompson debating Mayor Bloomberg.
Barely 10 hours after the first debate of the mayoral rivals, Bloomberg’s campaign posted a Web ad attacking the comptroller for “running away from his record.”
Many of the words in the ad were Thompson’s own, hastily retrieved from the televised showdown Tuesday night.
“I led a reform effort,” Thompson is heard saying of the school system, where he served as president of the old Board of Education from 1996 to 2001.
A moment later, Thompson insists, “No one was in charge [of the bifurcated board] . . . I didn’t run the school system.”
Even before seeing the ad, Thompson told reporters, “I’m sure it’s another distortion, or it’s something taken out of context.”
To conserve his limited campaign cash, Thompson responded with a posting on You Tube that focused on the $65 million Bloomberg has already spent running for a third term.
The topic: “What does Mike Bloomberg’s $15,000-an-hour campaign mean to you?”
Everyone who answered that question in the brief video found the spending extreme.
Not surprisingly, both men rated themselves highly for their debate performances.
Bloomberg deemed himself worthy of an “A-plus-plus,” saying otherwise he should see a psychiatrist.
Thompson said he thought he did well enough that “it’ll probably increase the TV ad buy today” by the other side.
Sources said Bloomberg continues spotlighting Thompson’s role as the board president because private polls show the attacks are having a noticeable impact.
Thompson yesterday also released his first piece of campaign literature featuring last week’s endorsement by President Obama. The photo of the two together is a composite.
“Hopefully, I will see the president next week [when he visits the city], and I’ll be able to add a picture to his endorsement,” said Thompson.
A Bloomberg campaign source noted that the Thompson endorsement was made by the president’s spokesman, and included kind words for the mayor, who was mentioned by name when Thompson wasn’t.
The source said Bloomberg aides are resigned to the fact that Obama will have to acknowledge the Democratic nominee when he comes to town.
“I assume there’s no way to get past next week without Barack Obama saying the words Bill Thompson,” the source said.
Thompson took time out of his campaign yesterday to join Democratic running mates John Liu and Bill DeBlasio in backing two City Council Democrats facing potentially tough elections next month, Tom White in Queens and Al Vann in Brooklyn.
Both men voted last year to extend term limits — an act Thompson has decried as a betrayal of democracy and has made the centerpiece of his campaign.
Bloomberg: Facts Are The Facts from Elizabeth Benjamin on Vimeo.