President Obama last night headlined a Manhattan rally where he offered such a tepid endorsement of fellow Democrat Bill Thompson for mayor that even the candidate said he didn’t think it went far enough.
Obama’s single-sentence nod to the city comptroller came at a pro-health-care-reform event with hundreds of boosters at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Midtown.
“Our great city comptroller, our candidate for mayor, my friend Billy Thompson, is in the house,” Obama said, his final acknowledgement after naming a string of officials.
The lukewarm shoutout was widely anticipated because Obama initially endorsed the candidate through a statement from his spokesman, who didn’t even name Thompson. In fact, the aide praised Mayor Bloomberg, who’s been supportive of the president’s health-care reform efforts.
Obama himself didn’t mention Bloomberg, but his remark was typical of how cool he’s been to his party’s mayoral nominee.
When a Politico reporter stopped Thompson afterward to ask if he thought Obama had made an endorsement, the controller didn’t answer directly. Instead, he pointed at her with two fingers and said, “No, do you consider that an endorsement?”
Thompson spokesman Jeff Simmons said later, “That’s a complete mischaracterization of what took place. He was very happy with the president’s words and the president’s speech.”
According to Simmons, Obama went much further boosting Thompson when the two met privately before the rally.
Thompson “thanked him for his support and for his endorsement,” Simmons said, adding that he vowed to win.
“The president encouraged him in his run and said, ‘Keep working hard.’ Bill responded, ‘I am, every day.’ ”
Absent from the evening affair was Gov. Paterson, who said he’d be busy with the state budget. Obama advisers have let him know they want to see him drop out of the 2010 governor’s race.
Earlier in the day, Obama was the star attraction at a closed event for upstate congressional hopeful Bill Owens, and then at a big-bucks Democratic National Committee fund-raiser at the Mandarin Oriental on Columbus Circle. At the high-priced dinner, where Dem donors nibbled at lamb and apple tart, Obama took a jab at Wall Street.
“If there are members of the financial industry in the audience today, I would ask that you join us in passing necessary reforms,” he said to applause. “Don’t fight them. Join us. This is good for our country.”
Sources said the two DNC events — the rally and the dinner — raised between $2 million and $3 million. Among those on hand at the Mandarin event were early Obama backers, including financiers Orin Kramer and Jim Torrey, and UBS head Robert Wolf.
Additional reporting by Jennifer Fermino