Confronting stagnant poll numbers and a lackluster debate performance, Joseph J. Lhota, the Republican nominee for mayor, is hoping an aggressive new advertisement can refocus the race on an issue that Republicans typically dominate: public safety.
“Can’t Go Back,†which began being broadcast on Wednesday, is Mr. Lhota’s third commercial of the general election campaign, and by far the sharpest attack yet on his Democratic opponent, Bill de Blasio.
It is true that Mr. de Blasio, as a councilman, voted in favor of budgets proposed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg that led to a reduction of the Police Department’s work force. Mr. de Blasio did not personally propose those cuts, and the vast majority of City Council members also approved the city budgets, whose particulars were negotiated long before the floor vote.
Mr. de Blasio did suggest in an interview after the motorcycle episode that police officers be proactive by informing motorcycle groups of a zero-tolerance policy for dangerous behavior. But he has also said that violent motorcyclists should be punished for any criminality.
The ad does not explain what would be reckless or dangerous about Mr. de Blasio’s policing views, nor does it make clear how the Democrat would prompt a return to decline and decay.
The visual equivalent of hyperventilating, this ad relies on a jarring and ultimately unexplained connection between Mr. de Blasio’s liberalism and frightening episodes in the city’s history, like the Crown Heights race riot.
It is a provocative and risky move for Mr. Lhota, but with three weeks to Election Day and a 50-point deficit in the polls, the Republican needs to take a risk.
The ad will earn headlines, but it could also turn off voters who see its message as too negative, or simply nonsensical.
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