Quinn Flip-Flops On Term Limits

Christin Quinn, December 2007: “I am today taking a firm and final position. I will not support the repeal or change of term limits through any mechanism, and I will oppose aggressively any attempt by anyone to make any changes in the term limits law. The voters have made their will very, very clear.”

Christine Quinn, October 2008: “In difficult times, I believe voters should have the choice to keep current leadership. If voters are not happy with any of us, they have the right to vote us out of office next November.”

I don’t happen to think term limits are a good idea in general, but Quinn’s reversal is rather stunning. She’s obviously protecting her probable 2012 run for mayor (now that she may need her Speaker job until then), but who’s to say that Bloomberg would stop at three terms? Even though he says he will, the guy does like to change his mind.

There’s considerable opposition to repealing term limits among the sitting city council members: 15 members support it, 18 are opposed, and 18 are undecided (26 votes are needed to pass the bill). The hearing is Thursday and you can expect quite the circus of protesters outside City Hall.

If the repeal does manage to squeak through, Bloomberg will likely coast to an easy victory next year. His approval ratings remain sky-high and nobody can come remotely close to competing with his campaign war chest. He spent more than $150M total to get elected in 2001 and 2005 and has said he’s happy to spend even more in 2009. That’s about $100 per vote, folks. So like him or not, you’d have Christine Quinn to thank for his third term.

JUST IN: JMG reader Ben tips us to this clip about Quinn’s flip-flop.