To those who have been asking me off-the-blog, I have been telling tha Ferrer, albeit having run a not-so-hot campaign, is the person most qualified to become mayor of New York City.

I remember when you could not go into the Bronx without fear and loathing of the place back in the late 80's. From all of the politicians of that time, Fernando Ferrer stood out as the guy who was fighting against all odds to make the Bronx not only safe for its residents but relevant to larger context of New York City politics.

Look at where the Bronx stands now. If you are a twenty something that has gone to some hip art gallery in the South Bronx or think nothing of spending some time in Orchard Beach, you have Fernando Ferrer to thank for that.

The other 3 candidates have shown their will to stay the course and not give any room for Ferrer to go uncontested. I guess that is what makes a democracy work. We are though living in dangerous times, where the extreme right have hijacked the federal government, tainted states and localities with their ideologies and directly attacked the US Constitution for their own gains.

We cannot take a gamble with Gifford Miller, a capable politician with ample time to grow and mature in other spotlights of New York City politics. We cannot take a gamble with Virginia Fields, who has shown to be more willing to stay focused on the minuatiae of provinciality, forsaking the importance of New York City as the anchor of national politics. And we cannot take a gamble in Anthony Wiener, a man who I see more like a Rudy Giuliani in Democrats clothes and whom I have to take to task, along with all the other Democrats who voted to take our country into the quagmire that is now Iraq.

Fernando Ferrer is the best candidate to lead New York City as the most important city in US politics. That's why I am voting for Ferrer today.