New School Politics

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Today billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City wrote an OP-ED piece in the New York Times that confirmed he will not be seeking the run for the white house this election. It does seem to suggest that perhaps the deciding factor in his bid for the white house was who received the Republican ticket.

Mayor Bloomberg may have billions of dollars to spend on an election, but unless he saw a serious void between the two parties he would have no reason to run. McCain and Obama are both candidates who will attract many independent voters (voters who Bloomberg would have depended on in his White House bid) and with McCain only several dozen delegates away from the Republican nomination it seems clear that at least one of the political parties will be offering a candidate who will bridge the bipartisan divide and evolve from “traditional party orthodoxy,” as Bloomberg said in his article.

The most telling quote from Bloomberg’s piece in the New York Times suggests that if Obama gets the nomination from the Democratic Party, that both he and McCain will have to fight for his endorsement. “If a candidate takes an independent, nonpartisan approach — and embraces practical solutions that challenge party orthodoxy — I’ll join others in helping that candidate win the White House.”

Obama’s rhetoric promises to unite America and the two parties; McCain has been an affectionate son of America’s independent voters for 8 years and his record in the Senate is one of fierce independent (and perhaps maverick) behavior. For the first time in American presidential politics the independent votes may be seriously contested by both Republican and Democratic candidates.

If the race shapes up to be close, Bloomberg’s endorsement is one that could be vital to a victory in New York-a victory that both candidates will be tirelessly seeking.

Here is an excerpt from the piece, follow the link or pick up the February 28th NYT to read the article-
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WATCHING the 2008 presidential campaign, you sometimes get the feeling that the candidates — smart, all of them — must know better. They must know we can’t fix our economy and create jobs by isolating America from global trade. They must know that we can’t fix our immigration problems with border security alone. They must know that we can’t fix our schools without holding teachers, principals and parents accountable for results. They must know that fighting global warming is not a costless challenge. And they must know that we can’t keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals unless we crack down on the black market for them.

The vast majority of Americans know that all of this is true, but — politics being what it is — the candidates seem afraid to level with them.

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Last 5 posts by Eftychis

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The Bloomberg- “I’m Not Running for President, but …” by New School Politics, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.