N.Y. to Koch: ‘Drop Dead,’ Gore Found to His Regret

Once again Mayor Edward Irving Koch was the talk of New York, but this time the man who likes to ask people “How am I doing?” would be best advised not to ask.

There was hardly a good word around town today for the politician who wants to be New York’s “Mayortollah” for life. His noisy, non-stop attacks on Jesse Jackson in the New York primary were seen by many as racist.

The mayor insists nothing could have been further from his mind when he called the black civil rights leader an arrogant, dangerous liar.

No Apologies

Although he admits his comments may have backfired, the mayor says, “I defy you to bring me a single sentence that I have to apologize for.”

“Koch should shut up,” one New Yorker said.

“If Mickey Mouse ran against him, I’d vote for the mouse,” said another.

Koch supported Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr. in the primary, and Gore received 10% of the vote to 51% for Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and 37% for Jackson.

Gore left town planning to drop out of the race, and Murray Kempton, a columnist for New York Newsday, said that may be because “his introduction to Mayor Edward I. Koch had been the most disabling encounter for a national politician since Gary Hart met Donna Rice.”

Koch’s attacks on Jackson may have a boomerang effect when the mayor seeks a fourth term next year.

Television networks questioning voters after they cast ballots found that New Yorkers who have elected Koch to three terms now want him out of office.

Black Voters Found Angry

An NBC poll found that 86% of black voters would never vote for him again and half of the city’s Jewish voters--the heart of his support--also feel the same way.

Koch said that if the voters want him out, “it’s the nature of democracy. I’ll be sad, but I’ll get another job.”

Although New Yorkers have grumbled on and off for years about the mayor, he won reelection in 1985 with 78% of the vote.

But neither black voters nor Jackson may be in a forgiving mood when 1989 rolls around and the mayor seeks reelection.