Wolfin' for Weiner

Andrew Wolf has an interesting take on the recent surge in the polls by Anthony Weiner. He makes the good observation that Anthony has the ability to really throw the mayoral race into a tizzy because of his unorthodox and fresh perspective.

In addition, he points out that if Weiner gets into a run-off all bets could be off as voters re-evaluate the new dynamics and take a look at the candidates anew. Most tellingly, perhaps because it mirrors what we have been saying all along, Weiner, alone among the candidates, has the ability to drive Bloomberg nuts. He can do this by attacking the mayor from the right as well as the left.

Some of this will be on display today when Anthony gets the endorsement of the Uniform Firefighters Association. The UFA's nod will give Weiner a chance to hammer away at the mayor's lack of sensitivity to neighborhood concerns, a theme he can build on with his small business and ticketing issues.

If he can somehow pull the upset of the year, he will be the fresh face with new ideas and momentum going into the general election. If he does that our advice to him on day one would be to call for the complete rollback of the Bloomberg 18% real estate tax. Returning the people's "lost money" will be a theme that will turn the campaign upside-down (And it would drive the NYT crazy- not a bad idea for a neighborhood populist).