Bloomberg abandons the GOP
(AP) "New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday switched his party status from Republican to unaffiliated, a stunning move certain to be seen as a prelude to an independent presidential bid that would upend the 2008 race."
posted by mikevotes at
6:35 PM
7 Comments:
Oh goodie. Another frickin' egomaniacal "third party" candidate. La-de-frickin-da.
By
-epm, at 6:44 PM
He goes away every weekend to a secret island and he refuses to tell anybody where it is. He is Jewish (and "Mormon" is already a problem in this race.) He is tiny (when is the last time a short president was elected? Nixon? Truman?) The NRA hate him. And there are rumors he is gay (thus the secret weekend trips to an undisclosed location.)
I don't care how much fucking money he spends on the race. He cannot win. He can, however, take just enough votes away from a Dem to give the WH to a Repub.
By
Reality-Based Educator, at 7:11 PM
Or he could take enough votes away from a Rep to give Hillary the White House.
By
Lew Scannon, at 9:03 PM
EPM, If he does turn out to be more than a percent or two, you gotta wonder who he takes it out of. Perot took it out of Bush one, Nader took a small but vital bite out of Gore.
I can't even begin to guess who Bloomberg takes because I can't seem to imagine who supports him.
...
Reality,
So, you think he takes it out of the Dem?
(And, by the way, it's his fa-abulous (lilting voice) aura that's going to cost him. I have no idea if those rumors are true, and frankly I don't care, but sometimes his tone doesn't convey a sense of seriousness, and that's what I think would cost him.)
By
mikevotes, at 9:06 PM
Mike, the dude disappears on weekends to a secret place somewhere in the Carribbean and he won't tell anybody where he is. Truly weird. It made waves around here back in 2001, but eventually people just got used to it and stopped asking where he goes. But how will that play in a national election? Will the USA vote for a billionaire who is so entitled he refuses to tell people where he recreates on weekends and vacations?
And yes, he takes votes away from Dems, not Repubs. He may be pro-business and anti-union (and as a union member who works in NYC, let me tell you one of his overarching goals is to destroy organized labor and bring back feudalism so that he and his billionaire buddies can make more money and build more football stadiums), but his pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-gay rights stances kill him for GOPers outside of NYC. The NRA guys REALLY hate him, especially after he sent undercover cops own to VA to try and buy guns in sting operations.
I think the people who might vote for him are wishy-washy nonpartisan types who listen to the Washington noise machine and believe that the reason why "Washington doesn't work" is because of all the "partisanship" (never mind that Bush, Rove, Delay, Gingrich, et al. brought so much of it to Washington in the first place.) They might somehow be open to voting for a "pragmatist" like Bloomberg who claims to be "nonpartisan." If he doesn't run, chances are many of these types either vote for a Dem (as the candidate of "change") or don't vote.
Ironically, Bloomberg is not non-partisan in the least. he was a lifelong Dem, expediently changed to the GOP when it helped him avoid a Dem primary in NYC and now is expediently leaving the GOP to be an independent.
By
Reality-Based Educator, at 5:49 AM
Thanks for the Bloomberg info. I know next to nothing about the guy.
I guess the question is whether he can be taken at all seriously, whether he can get on enogh state ballots, etc.
The money can do alot of that, but the media coverage will do alot more.
PS. If the Dems lose substantial "anti-Washington" votes to him it'll be largely their own fault.
By
mikevotes, at 6:47 AM
I have a feeling that Bloomberg would hurt a democratic nominee more than the republicans.
Craig Crawford at Congressional Quarterly says that initial polling suggests that his candidacy could help democrats in some swing states.
I don't know it will be worth watching.
By
Anonymous, at 11:54 PM
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