Mayor Has Work for
Family and Friends
By JIM RUTENBERG, NYT
on the Web, October 10, 2005
(NOTE: The following is extracted
from the article)
A Candidate's Best Friends
A number of new sober-faced suits could be seen flanking Fernando Ferrer, right,
on the hustings last week. He has been assigned a security detail as the
Democratic nominee, and they have quickly become conspicuous. Those stern
gazes and hard pins are one giveaway. At some sparsely attended events,
they are extra bodies to fill out a crowd shot for the television cameras.
And they are a new filter between candidate and reporter -- although Jen
Bluestein, the Ferrer spokeswoman, had already been doing an admirable job of
putting body blocks in front of reporters.
The additional protection goes only so far, however. On Friday, when
Andrew Kirtzman, a WCBS reporter, was roughing up Mr. Ferrer over his varied
positions on the death penalty, a member of the detail standing sentry nearby
made no move to help.
PATRICK D. HEALY
Some Help With the Cash Flow
Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is scheduled to be
in Manhattan tonight to help inject some big money into Fernando Ferrer's
mayoral campaign.
The two men plan to headline a dinner at a Chelsea restaurant, Cola's, for a
group of 30 or so leading gay contributors, prominent Democrats and others.
Among those arranging the event are two operatives in gay causes, Scott Widmeyer,
a political consultant, and David Mixner, a gay rights advocate.
The door fee is $1,000 minimum, and some of those attending are expected to give
$4,950, the maximum donation allowable to an individual candidate.
Mr. Ferrer has raised only about $232,000 since winning the Democratic
nomination on Sept. 13, and had about $555,000 in cash on hand last week,
according to campaign finance records filed on Friday. He is due to
receive $316,000 this week in matching city funds. One campaign adviser
said tonight's fund-raiser "will be very big for us."
PATRICK D. HEALY
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