Please, Mayor Bloomberg

Glowing Rubber Ducks 2, originally uploaded by filmloverjaxs.

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

You're a pretty good mayor. Just, please don't run for president unless you want to seek the Democratic nomination.

I'm not saying you are running--because you assure us you aren't. So, I'm prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt.

But, please don't lie to us and become the next Ralph Nader.

Comments

[Neil the Ethical Werewolf]

When they do Hillary-Rudy-Bloomberg, it seems that Bloomberg actually hurts Rudy more than Hillary. MyDD has the data here.

Of course, Hillary is more likely to win the primary than Giuliani is. I haven't seen any Hillary - Fred - Bloomberg polls, but I'd be surprised if they're as good for Hillary as the Rudy polls are.

[Doh]

Yeah, he could just as easily be the next Ross Perot. Democrats actually have a slight edge in party ID right now, so we're less reliant on pulling independents.

[Chris O.]

The problem is that Bloomberg doesn't have any issues on the national stage right now, so no one can really say where he would draw his appeal from. I'm feeling pretty good about a Dem beating a Rep in a one-on-one match right now, so I don't want to mess with it.

[David Grenier]

The fact that he's been so adamant that he is NOT going to run for President could bite him in the ass if he changes his mind. I don't think anyone would be foolish enough to jump into the Democratic fray at this point unless Obama really implodes, and even then the most likely candidate to jump in would be Al Gore.

Bloomberg may be positioning himself for a VP pick but I think the only way that even might make sense is if the race comes down to Richardson v. Guliani. Or he may be hoping for an eventual cabinet position or leaving himself open to run for another higher office.

Or he may just be well and truly disgusted with the Republican Party and doesn't want to be the guy that gets held up to say, "Look, the Republicans aren't all evil!" He may also be trying to sabotage the eventual Republican meme that under Republicans NYC is so much better off, so don't you want Guliani to do for the country what Republicans have done for NYC?

[David Grenier]

The fact that he's been so adamant that he is NOT going to run for President could bite him in the ass if he changes his mind. I don't think anyone would be foolish enough to jump into the Democratic fray at this point unless Obama really implodes, and even then the most likely candidate to jump in would be Al Gore.

Bloomberg may be positioning himself for a VP pick but I think the only way that even might make sense is if the race comes down to Richardson v. Guliani. Or he may be hoping for an eventual cabinet position or leaving himself open to run for another higher office.

Or he may just be well and truly disgusted with the Republican Party and doesn't want to be the guy that gets held up to say, "Look, the Republicans aren't all evil!" He may also be trying to sabotage the eventual Republican meme that under Republicans NYC is so much better off, so don't you want Guliani to do for the country what Republicans have done for NYC?

[David Grenier]

The fact that he's been so adamant that he is NOT going to run for President could bite him in the ass if he changes his mind. I don't think anyone would be foolish enough to jump into the Democratic fray at this point unless Obama really implodes, and even then the most likely candidate to jump in would be Al Gore.

Bloomberg may be positioning himself for a VP pick but I think the only way that even might make sense is if the race comes down to Richardson v. Guliani. Or he may be hoping for an eventual cabinet position or leaving himself open to run for another higher office.

Or he may just be well and truly disgusted with the Republican Party and doesn't want to be the guy that gets held up to say, "Look, the Republicans aren't all evil!" He may also be trying to sabotage the eventual Republican meme that under Republicans NYC is so much better off, so don't you want Guliani to do for the country what Republicans have done for NYC?

[zuzu]

Bloomberg may be positioning himself for a VP pick but I think the only way that even might make sense is if the race comes down to Richardson v. Guliani.

Well, he'd be prohibited from being Giuliani's running mate because they're both from New York.

[cfrost]

I'm so glad a billionaire may finally step in and rescue American democracy from the plutocratic rot that's killing it.

[NonyNony]

Is there any chance that he's hoping to run for some other position where being a Republican in New York is a detriment?

Like, let's say that Clinton gets the nomination and she becomes President -- suddenly there's an open Senator seat that needs to be filled and, well, here's Independent Michael Bloomberg ready to jump in and take that Senator seat.

I mean, the man's a billionaire and there are only a few positions I can see him realistically wanting -- Mayor of New York, Governor of New York, Senator, Vice President, President, maybe a cabinet position. Let's just say he's not going to be running for the New York state legislature or even the House of Representatives.

[Just one more little mint]

There is a large push from somewhere for a "Unity" ticket -- pairing two alleged centrists, possibly one from each party. In addition, the theme of "centrism" is frequently stressed -- hard -- by the many news media pundits and pseudo-journalists.

Of course, those of us in the true center (we believe in Constitutional rights, the Geneva Conventions, good government, counting all votes, a sensible role for government in correcting market failures, etc.) are very wary of this because their idea of a "centrist" is a Joe Lieberman (a Democrat who is Republican on all important issues) or John McCain (an arch conservative who occasionally praised a Democrat or occasionally criticizes Bush). That is, they are clearly trying to redefine the "center" to be the "center" of the economic elite, not the center of the what the average American believes.

I am suspicious that Bloomberg is being touted as a possible pseudo-centrist.

Do understand that if the media and economic elite get behind a 3rd party candidacy it will happen and probably will succeed. The appeal is obvious -- it will seem to the average joe or jane that the candidacy is "populist" and from "outside the beltway", and that they will "clean house" and "end all the partisan bickering". When in fact the pseudo-unity ticket will be just the lastest edition of the Reagan and Bush 2 series of packaged candidates.

[voxpopuli]

VERY WELL SAID, just one more little mint. My thoughts almost precisely.

Very scary. They're billing all these florida guys (crist) as centrists or populists and in the next breath how they are possible running mates for a prez in 2008. Scary. I'm also afraid it's a move towards a one party system rather than 'three'. The whole idea is scary. There are too many Dems in FL who legislate like Republicans (Pam Iorio, Mayor of Tampa) and Charlie is a smart pol. but definitely not my idea of a populist or centrist. Unless you count that he seems to hang back until he sees what everyone wants and then goes for that.

When in fact the pseudo-unity ticket will be just the lastest edition of the Reagan and Bush 2 series of packaged candidates
TOO TRUE.

[David]

I can be sure of few things in this life, but I am sure of this: a billionaire New York Jew running on a third-party ticket will NEVER become president. Point being: if I know this, he does too. And I don't think his hubris extends to the point of his wanting to waste however many hundreds of millions of dollars he would waste in making that losing bid.

I don't know why he changed parties, but it wasn't to run on a third party ticket. Most likely he got tired of pressure from the RNC and figured it was a way to get around.

[Autumn Harvest]

"Well, he'd be prohibited from being Giuliani's running mate because they're both from New York."

Why would that matter? Bush and Cheney are both from Texas. Oh, right, you're thinking about the Constitution. No one reads that old thing anymore.

[Neil the Ethical Werewolf]

Cheney's from Wyoming, if I recall correctly.

[Autumn Harvest]

Cheney was registered in Texas until right before Bush picked him as his running mate. Then he switched his registration to Wyoming. His primary residence was, and still is, for all practical purposes in Texas. Reregistering in Wyoming was just a ploy so that he could be Bush's running mate.

I was being sort of facetious. I don't really think this is a big deal, Constitution-wise, although it made Republican complaints about how Hillary Clinton isn't really a New Yorker more than a little hypocritical.

Anyway, just like Cheney, Clinton, and Keyes, I'm sure that Bloomberg knows how to change his state of residence.