At Republican Forum, McDonald Promises to Make the Economy His Focus

Michael Appleton for The New York Times George McDonald

George T. McDonald, a Republican candidate for mayor, can be an uneven performer in public. He likes to explain his economic plan by arguing that the Bronx should produce more applesauce, and he sometimes jokes about commuting by skateboard.

But at a forum in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday night, Mr. McDonald, 68, sought to use his quirky manner to his advantage as he portrayed his two Republican opponents as out-of-touch plutocrats.

Calling himself the “poorest guy sitting here,” Mr. McDonald, who lives in a $1.6 million apartment on the Upper East Side, said he would make reviving the economy a centerpiece of his administration.

“The recession didn’t pass over New York City,” said Mr. McDonald, who runs the Doe Fund, a nonprofit job-training program for the homeless. “It may have passed over your friends.”

Mr. McDonald then turned to a Republican rival, John A. Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of the Gristedes grocery chain. “If you think that money alone is going to win an election,” he said, “go to Connecticut.”

Mr. Catsimatidis grinned, reaching for the microphone. “I’m a man of all the people,” he said. “I’ve been to the South Bronx. I never saw you there.”

It was a striking back-and-forth at a forum largely free of disagreement. Nearly 100 people attended the event, which was sponsored by the New York Young Republican Club.

The other Republican contender, Joseph J. Lhota, former chief of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, largely stayed out of the fray. While he praised Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s handling of city affairs, he sought to distance himself from some of the mayor’s policies, saying he did not support the emphasis on standardized testing.

Near the end of the forum, in fielding a question on how to reduce poverty in New York, Mr. Catsimatidis said he would put Mr. McDonald in charge of homeless programs.

He looked to Mr. McDonald, who was staring into the distance, seemingly unaware of what had been said.

“George, I complimented you,” Mr. Catsimatidis said. “You’re very capable.”

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Republican Candidates Engage in Group Therapy at the Thanksgiving Family Forum (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Part of a Republican candidates' Thanksgiving Family Forum that took place in a church in Des Moines, Iowa, seemed, at times, to be a session of group therapy rather than a group of politicians explaining why they should be president.

The behavior of the Republican candidates, sans Mitt Romney, shows how much American politics has changed. Edmund Muskie sunk his presidential candidacy by apparently crying in New Hampshire in 1972, giving the impression that he was weak. Now manly tears are required for people wanting to be president.

For example, Herman Cain welled up when he recalled getting the diagnosis of cancer that might well have killed him and how supportive his wife Gloria was at the time. Rick Santorum teared up when talking about how his daughter suffered through a chromosomal disorder and the shame he feels now about how he thought of her as less than a person until she fought back from the disease. She is still alive, something of a miracle. Even Newt Gingrich cried a little at one point.

As each candidate opened about personal tragedy in their lives, other candidates, including Rick Perry, visible sought to comfort them.

Telling tales of overcoming adversity and crises of faith is something new in American politics. Franklin Roosevelt would have died a thousand deaths rather that even mention his polio, not to speak of ruminating about his struggle against it. John F. Kennedy concealed his various health problems from the public, rather than use them to political advantage. As late as 2000, George W. Bush did not go on at length about his drinking problem, which he did describe in his memoirs, seeking to conceal a DUI conviction that almost sunk his campaign.

What has changed? Is it because Americans are suddenly comfortable with having leaders who have feet of clay and are ready to admit it? Possibly it involves a political act of jujitsu, admitting weakness in order to convey strength. The idea is that if one had experience a personal crisis or a personal failing and overcome it, one has become stronger for it. By so doing, one is seen as being prepared for the greater traumas that are inherent in being president. How effective it is remains to be seen. But for now, the confessional has become a feature of political life in America.

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Impersonator mocks Obama, Gingrich at GOP forum (AP)

NEW ORLEANS – A Barack Obama impersonator was ushered off the stage after he mocked the Republican presidential hopefuls and joked about the real president's biracial roots to a room full of conservative activists Saturday.

The Republican Leadership Conference turned the podium over to impersonator Reggie Brown, who drew raucous applause from the GOP's supporters when he projected lewd photos of Rep. Anthony Weiner, the New York Democrat who just resigned after the furor over his sexually charged online dalliances with a former porn actress and other women.

Brown later played up the mass exodus of advisers to candidate Newt Gingrich's campaign and said Gingrich's supporters "are dropping faster than Anthony Weiner's pants."

The audience grew more uncomfortable when Brown turned to the candidates who are looking to make Obama a one-term president.

The impersonator took a shot at former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, saying Pawlenty missed the conference because "he's having his foot surgically removed from his mouth."

"Don't worry: it's covered under Obamneycare ... along with spinal transplants," Brown said.

Pawlenty has struggled this week after previewing his criticism of former Gov. Mitt Romney's health care overhaul in Massachusetts that was a model for Democrats' national plan. Pawlenty first called it "Obamneycare," a hybrid of "Romneycare" and "Obamacare." But when given the opportunity to use the term while sharing the stage with Romney during a debate Monday night in New Hampshire, he balked.

Pawlenty later said it was a mistake not to offer a stronger criticism.

The impersonator joked about Romney's Mormon faith and about polygamy, and Rep. Michele Bachmann's tea party support.

Organizers then cut off Brown's microphone and turned on music. He was shown off the stage.

The jokes came a day after Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour urged Republicans not to be distracted from a message honed solely on jobs and the economy.

"If we let people in the Obama campaign take America's eye off the ball, then that's their only chance to win," Barbour said.

Brown opened his routine with jokes about Obama's biography as the son of a mother from Kansas and a father from Kenya.

"My mother loved a black man and, no, she was not a Kardashian," the actor said, referring to the reality television family. Khloe Kardashian is married to basketball player Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Lakers. Other family members have had black romantic interests on the E! television series.

Brown also joked about rumors of the president's birthplace. Obama was born in Hawaii, "or as the tea partyers call it, Kenya," he said.

Brown highlighted photographs of past presidents such as George W. Bush at the beginning and end of their terms.

He showed a picture of George Washington at the start of his term and then projected an image of former first lady Barbara Bush as though it was the nation's first president as he left office.

Brown then projected a picture of Obama at the start of his term, followed by a picture of Fred Sanford of "Sanford and Son" as a representation of what Obama would look like when he leaves office.

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