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Go Home Bloomberg For President?

THE SPINE SEPTEMBER 19, 2006

Bloomberg For President?

BY TNR STAFF

The New York Post has been touting Mayor Bloomberg for president, which means that Rupert Murdoch has a soft-spot for the not-so-long-ago liberal who is also the wealthiest individual in American politics. In fact, one of the wealthiest people in the entire country. In my reading, he is also a very good liberal. I know that the Post's two-page spread, "Weary Voters Like Prez Mike," which revealed Murdoch's approval of Bloomberg, appeared last week. But I doubt it will end just as soon as it started, like with Hillary Clinton. Still, the point is not so much that Murdoch likes Mike. It's that, in interesting and supporting survey data, it's clear that the American people like Bloomberg and are very open to him making a race for the presidency. And he is a potential third-party candidate who is not at all as goofy and narcissistic as Ross Perot.

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13 comments

He's clearly got the money that, sadly, any real independence in politics seems to require these days. But wouldn't any third-party candidate would have to be a tad "goofy", more than a little "narcisstic"? To sustain yourself, at a minimum you need a burning animosity toward powers that be, however you define those. Bloomberg also does not have an issue to ride. A third party candidacy has to crystallize around some burning issue that affects millions of people in a very direct, serious way (read: their pocketbooks) and that neither party is willing or able to address competently and honesty. There are any number of candidates for such an issue-- health care and energy security are tops on my list, others would suggest illegal immigration by an illiterate underclass. But what's Mike's issue?

- teplukhin

September 19, 2006 at 8:14pm

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Michael Bloomberg for president? I am all for Rudy Giuliani. He is my first choice in 2008. Most people outside of New York City have never heard of him. The man simply has no foreign policy credentials. Bloomberg only has an outside chance if the country goes to hell in a hand basket. Other than that, a more conventional candidate will be selected.

- thomsondavid

September 19, 2006 at 10:32pm

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I'm ready for the emergence of this 3rd party. The Bloomberg-Obama '08 victory announces the beginning of an age of discourse. 1. Justice: Specter 2. Homeland Security: ARNOLD! (you just know he's the most reassuring DHS secretary we could find) 3. Intelligence (DCI): Christohpher Shays (the only person who cared about the whistleblower hearings) 4. Education: Wellstone (if only, find the new Wellstone) 5. Treasury: Rubin (because it worked last time) 6. Defense: Jim Webb (a promotion from the Senate to the DoD) 7. FBI: Lindsey Graham In this alternate reality, Santorum takes over for O'Reilly on FOX news early next year. *sigh* - it'll never happen

- tobrien

September 20, 2006 at 9:32am

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Bloomberg has been tested running a city of 8 million people, tens of millions of visitors, about 200 ethnic groups, a $50+ billion budget, and the politics of the city, the state and the federal governments. No one else has that level of preparation.

- corclare

September 20, 2006 at 11:11am

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would have to become a Democrat again, I can't see any Republican southerners supporting him, and even as a Dem. he would not have much support. Guiliani will draw large crowds whereever he goes but doesn't stand a chance in the voting booth. Look at Lynn Swann in Pa. everybody loves him but no one will vote for him.

- blackton

September 20, 2006 at 12:44pm

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Giuliani... Clinton... Spitzer... Bloomberg... Too bad they're New Yorkers--carpetbaggers or not; otherwise one of 'em might have a shot. The last time a New Yorker won, the Sun Belt was two guys standing in an empty lot, watching flies crawl up each other's neck. Getting a couple buildings blown up earns you some sympathy, but not nearly enough. Giuliani has the best anti-anti-NY-bigotry immunity, seeing as he gets credit (rightly or not) for making New York look a bit more like the rest of the country than before he took over, which was the last time anybody west of Piscataway (i.e., ~450 electoral votes) was paying attention. But Giuliani flipping New York is like Judi Dench going on "Extreme Makeover" and ending up looking more like Carmen Electra; I'm missing something. Think I'm wrong? Then I got $10 that says thomsondavid can't jam over Shaq. You in?

- williamyard

September 20, 2006 at 1:19pm

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two guys standing in an empty lot, watching flies crawl up each other's neck - hee hee. I'll raise your thomson bet to $1000 and change it to, "Can't jam over Mugsy Bogues". I've met David Thompson, I've had my sneakers laced by David Thompson, and you, Mr Thomson, are no David Thompson

- teplukhin

September 20, 2006 at 2:04pm

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Bloomberg's voice is effeminate. You get used to it once he gets going, but it's a bit jarring every time he opens his mouth. (Am I the only one who thinks so?) Anyway, he doesn't strike me as presidential candidate material for that and other "charisma"-related reasons.

- jhildner

September 20, 2006 at 6:37pm

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Can't be as bad as Taxachusetts bigotry and Kerry, with a lousy campaign and no charm, almost beat a Texas boy riding national security.

- jhildner

September 20, 2006 at 6:44pm

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Regionalism doesn't matter so much to our national politics anymore. Rudy's not having any problems with the fire-breathers in South Carolina; Massachusetts has a mormon for governor; much of the South's leading companies are transplanted yankee firms (ExxonMobil, Bank Of America) whose host cities have absorbed huge numbers of yankee yuppies; and there's much more geographical mobility generally in the nation than there was 20 years ago. Increasingly, we have a national political culture. Exhibit A: Look at the dynamics of the senate race in the Old Dominion state-- who'd have guessed the good old boy would be defending his jewish roots in order to salvage a campaign in free fall because of a slur against a Virginia-born and -bred Indian-American?

- teplukhin

September 20, 2006 at 7:15pm

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"...transplanted yankee firms (...Bank of America)..." Amadeo Peter Giannini, son of Genovese (those pesky immigrants again!) and reputedly an inspiration for the George Bailey character in "It's a Wonderful Life!", started the Bank of Italy (later B of A) in a bar in San Francisco in 1904. After the Big One in aught-six he set up shop in the street on a plank between two barrels. Salt of the goddam earth. He may have been an immigrant, but at least he wasn't a Yankee.

- williamyard

September 20, 2006 at 7:43pm

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Oops - y'know, non-southerners-- they's all yankees, ain't they? Interesting, didn't the greedy-banker nemesis in "Wonderful Life" go off on a rant about Italian "garlic-eaters" seeking mortgages from the bank? I guess I was thinking of Memphis's FedEx (started by IIRC yankee preppie Fred Smith), all the pharma companies around Raleigh-Durham, foreign multinationals' US headquarters in Dallas etc

- teplukhin

September 20, 2006 at 7:57pm

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B of A merged with Charlotte-based NationsBank in '98, they kept the corporate offices in Charlotte but took the B of A name.

- williamyard

September 20, 2006 at 8:01pm

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