A diverse group of New York gays signed up to host a reception for New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and his re-election campaign at the Maritime Hotel tonight. I wasn't so amazed to see Brian Ellner there, because we already knew he was backing the GOP mayor(al candidate). But, to see uber-Dem City councilwoman Margarita Lopez was surprising; and to see my friend and Mark Green political director Corey Johnson there was stunning! Corey is not a big fan of Bloomberg, but he is a big fan of Ellner, so he decided to come to show his support of his Democrat friend who has taken a lot of heat for support a Republican. Other friends and acquaintances I saw there were Antonious Porch, Patrick Murphy, Keith Boykin and Darren Spedale.
It was one of my favorite gay parties I've been to in New York City. Somewhat smart, sophisticated and an overwhelmingly positive aura about the crowd. That really positive aura is something I don't feel a lot at gay parties.
Bloomberg spoke for about 15 minutes. He's a Jekyll & Hyde speaker: he can be so dynamic, but he can also drone on. You can tell when he's just talking to you because he's got energy and enthusiasm in his voice; when he's just reading to the crowd, he just sounds bored.
He talked about his great pro-gay record (which is partly true; he's also done some things to prevent pro-gay legislation) and he said, again, the he will go to Albany to change the state law that is presently being interepreted as preventing gay marriage. He also made a direct appeal for the gay vote - not that he'll need it.
Other New York Mayor race news:
- Clinton campaigns for Ferrer - more reason to vote for Bloomberg
- Ferrer ad says he's "not like Mike" - he's obviously out of touch.
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