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It's the dog days of summer and the mayoral candidates are starting to get restless, and more aggressive, in their fight for City Hall.

The leading Democratic candidate, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, turned a speech before the Harlem Chamber of Commerce into a not-so-subtle campaign pitch.

"Our city is facing enormous challenges that must be met with bold action and a new approach that fundamentally changes the way business is done in New York City," Thompson said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, meanwhile, left most of the fighting to his campaign. But he too seemed to be on the lookout for votes, as he tried to tout his ties, once again, to the leading man in the White House.

"President Obama has seen our success in education and he has really singled our schools out as a model," Bloomberg said.

The mayor's campaign has released a new ad which takes a swipe at Thompson's record on education and housing. Thompson has been critical of the mayor's record in both areas this week.

A Bloomberg campaign spokesman said, "As Comptroller, Bill Thompson has taken more than one million dollars from real estate and development interests and has invested more than eighty million dollars of pension money with contributors in a failed real estate deal. In contrast, the Mayor launched the largest affordable housing program in the nation."

But the sparring didn't end there. Earlier in the day, Thompson fired off a letter to City Hall, demanding that the mayor release more information about the way it gave out public funds to local organizations.

"This evasion of the rules, if that is in fact what it is, is disturbing and troubling," Thompson said.

The mayor's office says it has already given the comptroller everything he asked for.

While Thompson was on the attack Thursday, his campaign suffered a potentially embarrassing setback in the fundraising department -- a blow for anyone trying to take on the billionaire mayor.

The city's Campaign Finance Board ruled that he didn't raise enough money to qualify for $1.5 million in public matching funds -- money that his campaign had surely been banking on.