New York Post - 19.08.2019

New York Post, Monday, August 19, 2019

nypost.com

7

WHAT’S THE ‘POINT’?

Mayor de Blasio tries

winning over a few voters

at a Democratic picnic in

Greenfield, NH, Sunday.

AP

Biden’s praise for ‘really good Republicans’

Joe Biden heaped praise
on Republicans at a fund-
raiser over the weekend,
boasting that he had
worked with many “really
good” and “decent” people
across the aisle.
“There’s an awful lot of
really good Republicans

out there,” the former vice

president and Democratic

presidential frontrunner

told attendees at a Massa-

chusetts fundraiser Satur-

day, according to The Hill.

“I get in trouble for say-

ing that with Democrats,

but the truth of the matter

is, every time we ever got

in trouble with our admin-

istration, remember who

got sent up to Capitol Hill

to fix it? Me.

“Because they know I re-

spect the other team.”

Biden, who tops most

polls in Democratic presi-

dential race, argued that

many conservatives were

too “intimidated” to dis-

agree with President

Trump, The Hill reported.

“They’re decent people.

They ran because they

care about things, but

they’re intimidated right

now,” Biden told the fund-

raiser’s guests.

Biden, a longtime sena-

tor, has angered progres-

sives for his praise for the

other side and insistence

on bipartisan cooperation.

He has been criticized

for praising Republican

Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.) in

a paid speech ahead of the

2018 midterm elections.

And Biden has also

praised former Vice Presi-

dent Dick Cheney and

called Vice President Mike

Pence “a decent guy” in

February. Lee Brown

Bernie

Sanders:

Approx.

$58,

Elizabeth

Warren:

$36,30 0

Kamala

Harris:

$23,60 0

Pete

Buttigieg:

$20,80 0

Mayor de Blasio:

$12,60 0

Joe

Biden:

$11,30 0

Kirsten

Gillibrand:

$7,

Cory

Booker:

$6,

Beto

O’Rourke:

$3,

Andrew

Yang:

$3,

Nearly 3,000 citywo rkers donated more than $200,

to Democratic presidential candidates between

Jan. 1 and June 30— but their boss, Mayor de Blasio,

bare ly cracked the top five recipients:

Source: ActBlue data compiledby the Center forPu blic Integrity

By MARISA SCHULTZ,

JULIA MARSH & AARON FEIS

City employees are donating

in droves to Democratic presi-

dential hopefuls — just not

their boss.

Nearly 3,000 municipal work-

ers, including several in City

Hall, have collectively contrib-

uted more than $200,000 to

White House aspirants’ cam-

paigns, but almost all of it went

to Mayor de Blasio’s rivals, data

show.

A review of data compiled by

the nonprofit Center for Public

Integrity — which looked at

small-dollar donations made

through the ActBlue fundrais-

ing Web site between Jan. 1 and

June 30 — reveals Hizzoner’s

lack of financial support in his

own city.

Of 2,923 donors who identi-

fied their employer as “NYC,”

“City of New York” or “New

York City” on their ActBlue

profiles, only 74, or about 2.

percent, gave to de Blasio’s

campaign.

“He doesn’t have my support

for president. I think there are

candidates that have more to

offer,” said one attorney on the

city payroll who donated to

businessman Andrew Yang.

“New York City has lots of

problems [de Blasio] could be

working on,” she said, singling

out surging bicyclist deaths as

one area of concern and dis-

missing de Blasio’s Beltway

ambitions as “fantasyland.”

“I think he should just focus

on being the best mayor for

New York.”

City-employed donors

scraped together about $12,

for de Blasio, a pittance com-

pared with what they doled out

to other candidates.

Four presidential hopefuls

raked in more from city em-

ployees than de Blasio.

Top among them was Sen.

Bernie Sanders of Vermont,

who netted just over $58,000,

or nearly five times as much as

de Blasio. Sens. Elizabeth War-

ren of Massachusetts and Ka-

mala Harris of California pock-

eted around $36,300 and

$23,600, respectively.

De Blasio wasn’t even the

most popular mayor among

city workers, as Pete Buttigieg,

the mayor of South Bend, Ind.,

tallied about $20,800.

Asked why he hadn’t opened

his wallet for de Blasio, Jona-

than Buchalter, a city budget

analyst who gave $58 to Sand-

ers, said with a laugh, “For

president?”

“I support de Blasio,” he said.

“I think the other candidates

are more qualified.”

While most of the de Blasio-

averse donors are rank-and-file

municipal workers, many hold

positions within various City

Hall arms.

But most declined to discuss

why they weren’t supporting

their boss.

“I’m busy paying off college

debt,” said Nicholas Negron, an

analyst for the Mayor’s Office

of Contract Services who had

enough cash to spare $33 for

Warren, $5 for Sanders and an-

other $5 for fringe candidate

Marianne Williamson — but

not a dime for de Blasio.

“Yeah” was Negron’s mono-

syllabic reply when asked

whether he supported Hiz-

zoner’s White House run.

Pressed on why he thought

de Blasio would make a good

commander in chief, Negron

said, “I just feel like he would,”

then hung up.

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