Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Noted

Via The Washington Post:

The closeness of his victory is sure to raise speculation about the impact of the term-limits change and how much that served to trump Bloomberg's accomplishments in office. That subject had already dominated conversation at polling places around the city Tuesday.

"The main thing is to get Bloomberg out," said Véronique Doumbé, 52, a filmmaker from West Africa, speaking at an East Village polling place. "I'm coming from a country where the president never wants to leave. Term limits are essential for a democracy."

2 comments:

Brian said...

"Term limits" are enacted at the ballot box. Bloomberg-Thompson was a closer race than expected, which speaks well of the health of democracy in the city. Too bad the latter did not win, but that speaks more of the failure of Democratic Party to make a real effort, not of the need for term limits.

ak said...

i worked at a bar last night. i asked the majority of my customers if they had voted, most had not. the most comment sentiments i heard expressed were:

"i dont really like bloomberg but i couldn't find a reason to like the other guy (thompson?!?) either. i figure at least it's an evil we know"

"whatever, bloomberg already won"

all of which were that much more depressing for me when i saw what little margin thompson lost by or when i looked to see how few people voted. especially!- as i overheard an inane conversation amongst a group of customers about how intelligent conservatives read to find facts to support their theories while intelligent liberals read to gather facts around which to base their theories. oh, and that all conservatives are "wrong".

also, i'm with Ms. Véronique Doumbé - term limits in a democracy are essential. removing them sets a horrible precedent, not only for NYC but for the US in general.