President Obama Finally Shows Bill Thompson Some Love

President Barack Obama came to New York City Tuesday for some political theater, attending a couple of fundraisers after a short speech to members of the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force.

At a political event in the evening came the most anticipated moment of the night for the mayoral campaign of Bill Thompson. Obama had his first chance to publicly acknowledge his endorsement of the Democrat: "A great city comptroller, a candidate for mayor, my friend Billy Thompson is in the house."

That was it -- a glorified shout out.

Thompson says he was not disappointed with the brief mention, and says he met with the president before the event, who told Thompson to work hard.

President Obama also attended a $15,000-a-plate fundraiser at the Mandarin Hotel, and earlier, saluted members of the JTTF. Nowhere to be found was Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who nonetheless has confidence in his relationship with the president. Bloomberg said he didn't want to politicize the president's event.

With less than two weeks to go, Thompson still has to close the gap.

"Upsets do happen; polls consistently show Bloomberg with a lead in the teens and a job approval rating in the 60s," said Chris Smith of New York magazine. "That combined with his enormous spending advantage make him pretty confident."

Brennan is the chief political correspondent for WNYW/Fox 5 News and a columnist for the Queens Courier.