On the same day that Mark Green won a divisive and disputed 51-49 Democratic runoff for mayor of New York, Republican nominee Mike Bloomberg was running an estimated $400,000 worth of television commercials. At one point I saw four Bloomberg ads running at the same time, on four different TV stations, as I switched the dial.

This sets up a Money versus Message confrontation for mayor on November 6, in a city that is 5-to-1 Democratic and was carried overwhelmingly even by George McGovern and Walter Mondale. The general election is now Green's to lose. And he proved in the Democratic run-off that he is a competitor who will do almost anything not to lose an election.

But large and emotional forces are now in play, like race. And large political actors are on the stage, like Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the Rev. Al Sharpton, and both are masters of media mischief.

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