Bill De Blasio Racist? What Was Bloomberg Thinking

One of the strange moments, lowlights of the NYC 2013 election, was the moment Michael Bloomberg, in an interview with New York Magazine, referred to Bill de Blasio as running a "racist" campaign.

NY Magazine: Then there’s Bill de Blasio, who’s become the Democratic front-runner. He has in some ways been running a class-warfare campaign—

Michael Bloomberg: Class-warfare and racist.

NYM: Racist?

MB: Well, no, no, I mean, he’s making an appeal using his family to gain support. I think it’s pretty obvious to anyone watching what he’s been doing. I do not think he himself is racist. It’s comparable to me pointing out I’m Jewish in attracting the Jewish vote. You tailor messages to your audiences and address issues you think your audience cares about.

...While I "get" where Bloomberg is going with this, no, I don't think showing up on the campaign trail with your family is in the slightest bit unexpected (did you see the photo of Weiner exiting the polling booth today with his kid in his arms?). The fact that Bill de Blasio's wife is black and his kids are multi-racial and that that might help de Blasio earn trust in the black community, so what. He shouldn't keep them off the campaign trail. Maybe it's just that de Blasio's kids look pretty damn cool and Bloomberg is a bit jealous.