Thanks, Rudy, but No Thanks!

Immediately after the defeat of his "favorite son," Peter Vallone, in the Democratic primary on Sept. 25, Rudy Giuliani dropped a political bombshell in the form of an ultimatum to the remaining mayoral candidates: either accede to his demand to extend his term for three additional months, or he would seek to make an end run around New York’s term-limit law and seek a third term.

Given Giuliani’s enormous if temporary popularity in the wake of the World Trade Center attacks, there was a clear and present danger that Giuliani would make good on his threat with the support of Gov. Pataki and state Senate leader Joseph Bruno, and over the ineffective resistance of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Faced with this awful prospect and the apparent likelihood that voters, if given the opportunity, would indeed return Giuliani for a third term, Mark Green--Giuliani’s staunchest opponent over the last eight years--accepted the lesser evil of a three-month extension, followed by a transition to the democratically elected successor, rather than risk the unthinkable prospect of four more years of Rudy.

Green has drawn much criticism for this difficult decision, but at the time the danger of another full four-year term for Giuliani was very real. While lawyers pointed out that the legal basis was unclear, it must be remembered that the ultimate authority, the United States Supreme Court, showed its Republican partisan stripes only 10 months ago when it handed the presidency to George Bush based on an Orwellian interpretation of the equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The prospects for a three-month extension are fading, thanks in part of Ferrer’s clear opposition, but the issue is still in doubt, with the state Legislature scheduled to reconvene on Oct. 15.

While New Yorkers were almost unanimous in gratitude for the moral support Giuliani gave a traumatized city in the days after Sept. 11, most opposed proposals to repeal term limits to let Giuliani run for re-election, or to delay the inauguration of the next mayor by three months. On Oct. 1, a coalition of good-government groups, including Common Cause, Citizens Union, the New York Public Interest Research Group and the League of Women Voters, announced their unanimous opposition to any modification of the city charter to allow Giuliani to remain in office.

While claiming to be too preoccupied to think about politics, Giuliani even considered resigning before Nov. 6, so that he could try to get around the term-limits law by saying he was not an incumbent. He apparently dropped the idea because it would mean that Mark Green would automatically succeed him as mayor for the rest of his term--due to the failure of Giuliani’s heavy-handed attempts to change the succession provision of the city charter during his aborted senatorial campaign last year.

So, to Rudy’s offer to continue as mayor after the lawful expiration of his term, we say, "Thanks Rudy, but no thanks." As Harlem Assemblymember Keith Wright eloquently observed, it is time for Giuliani to ride into the sunset. Readers are encouraged to exercise their right to vote on October 11 and November 6, and to get involved in the campaigns. Mark Green’s campaign can be reached at (646) 452-1660; Norman Siegel’s campaign at (212) 362-1300.