People involved in public affairs tend to see every major event as proof that their previously held theories are correct.
For instance, after the indictment of Malcolm Smith, Mayor Bloomberg said that partisan elections were a reason for the alleged crimes.
And the New York Post has, in at least 4 stories or columns put forth the theory that Malcolm’s goal was not to become Mayor but to steal money from the NYC Campaign Finance System.
I don’t buy that for a couple reasons.
WHY RUN AS A REPUBLICAN?
If Smith only goal was to rip off the funds provided by the CFB, why did he want to run as a Republican. This is the reason he needed the Wilson-Pakula authorization and the only reason he had to care about Vince Tabone & Jay Savino and the only reason he would have to want to bribe them. Running in the Democratic Primary or even saying he wanted to run as an independent candidate (not a candidate of the Independence Party but a true small I independent) would have avoided the hassles.
WHAT WAS HE WAITING FOR?
Despite the impression conveyed by the Post and other opponents of public funding of campaigns, the CFB doesn’t just hand people money. Mayoral candidates have to form a campaign committee and receive contributions of $250,000 from at least 1,000 New York City residents. That takes times. Joe Lhota started in January and with the assistance of former Mayor Giuliani, alumni of the Giuliani Administration & with a professional fundraising wife helping him, his campaign raised $729,987 by March 15th. Of this, only $58,688 is potentially matchable.
If Malcolm’s plan was simply to raise as much matchable funds as possible, when was he planning to start doing it? He hasn’t even formed a campaign committee!
And, even if for some reason I can’t fathom, running as a Republican was a necessary part of a scheme to get the money from the CFB, waiting for the Wilson-Pakula authorization isn’t required. Adolfo Carrion has formed a committee and raised money without getting permission to run as Republican and before getting endorsed by the Independence Party.
Now I can’t be sure I’m correct, because despite the fact that I’ve known Malcolm since we both worked in the Koch Administration, I’m not going to lie like the Post’ “sources” and pretend I know what he was thinking. But the CFB angle just doesn’t make much sense.