The other day we posted something on game theory as applied to the NYC mayoral election. The idea is the each of the individual opponents to Democratic nominee Zorhan Mamdani is weak and unpopular, but if some of them could be convinced to drop out, the remaining challenger might be able to limp to the finish line, aided by a few zillion dollars in outside support. This could give a triple benefit to Republicans: a bloody nose to the Democrats in an otherwise strongly Democratic-voting city, more conservative policies, and a mayor who in taking office would be so politically weak that he’d be heavily reliant on his funders.

But then, who should drop out? It’s a game theory problem, and the usual solutions would be threats, incentives, and side payments. Eric Adams is in continual legal jeopardy which should make him susceptible to threats or incentives from that direction; on the other hand, he knows that there are some rich and powerful people who’d like him to drop out, so maybe he’s holding out for better side payments. Moving on to Andrew Cuomo, it’s not so clear how the former governor could be threatened or how he could be paid off (I guess he’s already comfortably rich?), also he seems really desperate to get back in the game. The usual trick would be for the president to offer him an ambassadorship or a minor cabinet position or something like that, but that might rile up the Republican base to be appointing a former Democrat, so then Cuomo would have to play along by openly joining forces with Trump, which would sink him in NYC politics. So, a tough needle to thread. Curtis Sliwa doesn’t seem to want to drop out, but, hey, maybe he’d jump if they offer him enough–I’m not just talking money here, maybe there’s something he’d like in the policy dimension, or they could give him control of some city agency, maybe appoint him to head the Department of Defense if that becomes available soon? Another challenge here is that if the Republicans do manage to clear the field for Cuomo, it’s risky: once he’s in office Cuomo could be a bit of a wild card, not so easy to control as Adams.

There’s also the question of whether the Republicans would prefer a Democrat running NYC so as to offer a convenient political target. I doubt that, though. Having their own person in charge would be preferable, no?

Anyway, some time after that post ran, Joshua in comments pointed to this news article, “Trump Weighs Getting Involved in New York City Mayor’s Race.”

Maybe someone in the White House is reading our blog?

Just kidding. It’s an obvious idea, and if it came to me, of course lots of political operatives would be talking about it too.

Also it’s hilarious that Bill and Hillary’s former pollster is now advising Trump. That must really thrill them! It says on wikipedia that this pollster is married to “the co-founder, board president and CEO of No Labels, a 501(c)4 political organization that advocates for centrism and bipartisanship.”

Advising both Clintons and Trump . . . what could be more centrist and bipartisan than that?? Enough to make everyone happy, I guess!