ABSTRACT
New York politicians began talking about David Dinkins, after Jesse Jackson left town. As the borough president of Manhattan, he was New York's senior black elected official, and he possessed three attributes that made him particularly attractive to a disparate group of politicians looking for an African American candidate to back for mayor in 1989. As the product of a political clubhouse, he could be counted on to reward his supporters. In a city searching for harmony, he had a low-key and courteous style that contrasted sharply with Edward Koch's confrontational bluster. During the primaries, the candidates' skirted delicately around the issue of race. None wanted to exacerbate the tensions in the city, and none wanted to bear the political burden of running a nasty campaign against the first black with a serious chance of becoming mayor. Besides, Dinkins's political strength rested in part on his call for harmony. His opponents understood that hostile rhetoric would make him stronger.
