Rival Accuses New York Mayor Of Race Baiting

NEW YORK (AllPolitics, Nov. 21) -- In what appears to be the opening shots of New York's mayoral campaign, a prominent Democrat accused the incumbent GOP mayor of race baiting after the mayor criticized his predecessor, African-American David Dinkins.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is up for re-election next year, and he recently was critical of the Dinkins Administration and the role some of his Democratic challengers played in the Dinkins era, which the mayor characterized as crime-ridden and unfriendly to business.

But William Bratton, who served 27 months as New York's Police Commissioner until resigning last April, told a local cable station that "the attacks on former Mayor Dinkins I think are very inappropriate... The issue that's been injected into this race very early on, which I think is very troubling, is the race-baiting." Bratton, who is white, is seen as a potentially strong candidate to challenge the mayor.

Giuliani has not commented on Bratton's remarks, but an aide to the mayor said the former police commissioner is just playing politics.

Rival Accuses New York Mayor Of Race Baiting

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