Too often, the only Democrats who feel they can talk this way are the ones who find themselves down in the polls in the eleventh hour. But it's not a desperate tactic to deliver a hopeful, populist message. On the contrary, being an underdog gives a candidate a certain amount of leeway to drop the pretensions and speak from the heart. It's in this area that Ferrer excels.

When Ferrer pushed his 'two New Yorks' message during the 2001 Democratic primary, he was unfairly criticized as somehow dealing in coded racial language. But that's total nonsense. Anyone who's ever spent any serious time in New York City can tell you that the two New Yorks most certainly exist, despite the city's best attempts to sweep the divide under the rug. And they're not split perfectly along ethnic lines. There are literally thousands of diverse working families in Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn for every Trump in Manhattan. And sadly, there's still quite a few homeless for every Bloomberg, as well.

Ferrer recognizes that these old charges will return. The critics, he said, will "call what I have said today divisive." Some, though they know he's right, will attack Ferrer anyway for political gain. But he thinks that others, like Mayor Bloomberg, just don't get the other New York, saying that the Mayor "doesn't have any real understanding of what it's like to live on the harder side." As proof that the Bloomberg administration doesn't get it, Ferrer gives some of the statistics from the last four years:

In his own ads, Bloomberg brushes all of this off, saying something along the line of sure there are problems, but now isn't the time to change course. Is that really the vision (or lack thereof) New York City wants from its Mayor?

Win or lose, Ferrer deserves our respect for ignoring the critics and exhibiting the willingness to drive home the message that there are problems in this world that need to be solved. Facing up to these problems on the city or national level won't be easy. But they must be dealt with. I certainly appreciate the fact that Freddy's willing to step up to the plate.