First Anti-Quinn Ad Fills The Democratic Field With Smoke and Gun Shots

It has officially begun, when Christine Quinn is being painted as a moderate who's out of touch with progressive Democratic voters. A new outside campaign, by a coalition of left-leaning labor unions and Democratic activists who say they are not backing anyone in particular, has been launched Sunday night with the release of a 30 second TV ad scheduled to air on cable television stations like MSNBC and Bravo for three weeks, David Chen reports in the NY Times. 

The commercial named "The Smoked-Filled Room" by http://nycisnotforsale.com is the first of many following of the more than $1 million pledged to the campaign and $250,000 for initial television advertising followed by several mailers and radio ads. “She wants you to think that she’s a progressive, but on the issues New Yorkers care most about, she is always on the wrong side,” a male narrator intones. “All that’s clear when the smoke lifts is her political ambition.”

The campaign of Ms. Quinn, rushed to pin the effort on one of her opponents, the public advocate, Bill de Blasio, who has ties to some of the coalition members and is viewed as a strong supporter of animal rights. “This ad is paid for by a special-interest group, with strong connections to Bill de Blasio, working to circumvent the New York City campaign finance system,” Mr. Morey, a spokesman to the campaign, said. “If Bill de Blasio is the progressive he claims to be, then he should oppose this effort to undermine the most progressive campaign finance system in the country.” 

A de Blasio campaign spokesman, Dan Levitan, said the campaign had not known of the spot until The New York Times asked about it late Sunday, and he commented: “Nothing undermined our democratic system more than when Speaker Quinn overturned term limits and let Mayor Bloomberg spend $100 million buying four more years.”