Mayoral Candidate Ponders Creating a New Party

Speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller, is lagging far behind other democratic candidates in the opinion polls, reports the Times. However, Miller has decided to run with a plan that is not new to New York City politics and even contributed to the current mayor's successful election nearly four years ago. He has decided to create his own party.

He'll do this by getting the necessary signatures that will allow him to appear on the ballot in November. However, he will not be excluded from the Democratic primary and if he wins, will appear on the November ballot as a Democrat. Nevertheless, considering his current undesirable position in the polls, he will most likely enter the general election as a member of his own party, the "Smaller Class Size".

The party name is self explanatory. Again, the speaker is using a similar tactic employed by Mayor Bloomberg in 2002, when his platform was almost exclusively education-based. However, it's unlikely that a single platform party will grab the attention of voters, especially considering Mayor Bloomberg's recent success in education.

More on the ethnic implications of the polls here.