A Nice Guy Finishes First

By Joelle Attinger

For more than two decades, blacks in New York City watched longingly as African-American mayors took control of a score of major cities. Though they constituted Gotham's second largest ethnic group, blacks had not won a single citywide office. Last week they finally exulted in a triumph of their own. Drawing support from what he called a "gorgeous mosaic" of black, Hispanic and white voters, David Dinkins edged out former U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani to succeed three-term Mayor Edward Koch.

Except for his race, the former Manhattan borough president was hardly a bold choice for a city accustomed to setting trends. Courtly, cautious and unfailingly polite, Dinkins, 62, is a classic clubhouse politician who spent 35 years loyally trudging up the Democratic Party ladder while more dynamic black leaders overshadowed him. Seemingly content to forge a career based more on amiability than activism, he had never displayed the ruthless ambition and toughness most New Yorkers thought it took to reach the top. Says his old friend and former Deputy Mayor Basil Patterson: "David was always showing up."

Yet after he announced his candidacy last February, Dinkins' dignified demeanor struck a chord among New Yorkers who had grown weary of Koch's prickliness and flip remarks. In the Democratic primary in September, 32% of white voters combined with huge majorities of blacks and Hispanics to give Dinkins the nomination. Said Dinkins: "You voted your hopes and not your fears." The No. 1 hope: that Dinkins could heal the racial divisions that are never far from the city's surface.

So far, Dinkins has not done much -- beyond showing up -- to respond to that hope. After trouncing Koch, he seemed prepared to coast into city hall on the euphoria of his primary win. He glad-handed his way through the general election, underestimating the potent challenge Giuliani was mounting under the tutelage of media meister Roger Ailes. In the closing weeks of the race, Giuliani nearly overcame Dinkins' double-digit lead in the polls. Giuliani launched a subtle appeal to the fears of white voters and exploited widespread disgust with the corruption that plagued Koch's final term by raising troubling questions about Dinkins' monumentally sloppy handling of his personal finances, including failure to file income tax forms for four years in the early 1970s.

Giuliani claimed that Dinkins was seeking to evade taxes in a murky sale to his son of stock in a black-controlled broadcasting company. He followed up by disclosing that Dinkins had not listed on required financial-disclosure forms a vacation trip to France paid for in part by a close friend. Though Dinkins provided plausible explanations for the lapses, the explanations were slow in coming. With more time, Giuliani might have been able to capitalize on his reputation as one of the nation's toughest lawmen. When the candidates squared off in televised debates, Dinkins complained that Giuliani was behaving more like a prosecutor than a mayor. Giuliani fired back, "I think the people of this town want a mayor who has nothing to fear from a prosecutor."

New York Governor Mario Cuomo observes that what Dinkins does with his victory is "more relevant" than the number of votes that carried him into office. If the new mayor is to justify the hopes invested in him, he will have to display something more than the clubby conciliation that marked his previous career. The problems of crime, drugs, homelessness and substandard education cry out for solution or at least amelioration. The infrastructure is literally blowing up, with a seemingly endless series of water-main explosions. Especially worrying are Dinkins' close ties to powerful labor unions, some of which may clamor for pay increases just as the city grapples with a projected $1.3 billion budget deficit. Even some of Dinkins' backers have qualms about his ability to hold the unions in check. Says financier Felix Rohatyn, head of Dinkins' informal team of economic advisers: "He is so innately decent that he is really not used to having to disappoint people. And yet, in this job, he'll have to."

Dinkins' campaign manager Bill Lynch insists that the new mayor's consensus- building style will enhance his ability to deal with New York's seemingly intractable problems. Says Lynch: "The image that you have to be a tough guy to be mayor of New York is wrong." Perhaps, but the choices that the new mayor will face are certainly going to be tough. Says Ray Harding, head of the Liberal Party and Giuliani's earliest political ally: "David Dinkins brings tranquillity, and that's evidently what New York wants." As tough times hit, New York might need much more than that.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE

CREDIT: [TMFONT 1 d #666666 d {Source: Channel 2 News/New York Times exit poll}]CAPTION: % of each group who voted for Dinkins

With reporting by Janice C. Simpson/New York