Bloomie for Prez buzz continues
Has this been overlooked by the local newsblogs? I can't seem to find it elsewhere, so here goes (from CBS):
(CBS) NEW YORK New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has always denied it, but CBS 2 has learned the details of a secret meeting, involving the mayor, to discuss a possible run for the White House.
"I am not running for president, for the record," Bloomberg has consistently said publicly.
But behind the scenes, it's a different story.
CBS 2 has learned the details of a private dinner for the mayor that was held at an apartment building on Manhattan's Upper East Side last month. There, he spent the evening in serious discussions about the viability of a White House run.
Sources told CBS 2 Bloomberg brought three deputy mayors with him, and proceeded to talk through every angle of a presidential run. By the end, the group had zeroed in on his running as an independent in 2008. And, the sources said, he seemed intrigued.
The dinner was held at the home of Michael Steinhardt, a legendary Wall Street hedge fund manager and a Bloomberg friend. He brought along Al From, head of the Democratic Leadership Council, which played a part in Bill Clinton's rise to power in 1992.
Sources said the man who put Bloomberg together with Steinhardt and From was New York City Schools Commissioner Joel Klein.
Aides to the mayor cautioned that he is still very skeptical about the idea of running. In fact, one source said that at the dinner Bloomberg asked, "How likely is a 5'7"-Jew-from-New-York billionaire who's divorced and running as an independent to become president of the United States."
Interesting. My qustion is this: what is Al From of the Democratic Leadership Council doing in a secret meeting with our republican mayor discussing a candidacy that would turn into Nader on steroids?
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2008 Elections | Democratic Party | Michael Bloomberg | Republican Party
Problem is
Submitted by Bouldin on 16 September 2006 - 10:19pm.
...that Mike would take votes more from whomever our guy is than from whomever the forces of darkness nominate. And I kind of doubt that any independent could actually get elected, so it's a net loss for us.
It could be a smokescreen....
Submitted by rwallnerny on 18 September 2006 - 1:20pm.
A potential Bloomberg candidacy could be a smokescreen, a ruse he is using to keep getting attention for himself and his agenda even though he is a lame duck. It cannot be lost on Bloomberg that Guiliani, in his second, lame duck, term was reduced almost to a joke before 9/11 happened. He was accomplishing little after a while and the press was so bored they were staking out hotels to find out where he and his girlfriend were shacking up. Bloomberg wants to remain a vital force, and not be reduced to powerless simply because he is term limited. By putting a potential presidential run on the table, he forces the media and everyone else to keep paying attention to him.
That said, I do not think that he will run for president in the end, because
1. he can't win the white house if he can't win his home state. New York is a true blue state and will vote democratic in the end.
and
2. the electoral college works against independents. The democrats and republicans field the best known slates of electors everywhere. Who would be Bloomberg's electors? Not a single top republican or democrat will be willing to alienate their party by being an elector for Bloomberg. So just as with Ross Perot, he could do well in popular votes in some places and still have problems getting electoral votes.
A Mike run as an independent
A Mike run as an independent would be really interesting. He would have as much money as Ross Perot had in 1992 where I think if I am correct he got somewhere between 15-20% of the vote. Also, he has held political office and is rather moderate something Perot didn’t have going for him. He would have a chance, and would at least get a few electoral votes something an independent candidate hasn’t done in a really long time.