MUDGE’S Musings
This nanocorner of the ‘Sphere© has been following the tease of a possible third-party candidacy for president by Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City for almost its entire existence:
Last summer the Bloomberg stories were thick on the ground, but had faded to the background as the skirmishing among the mainstream candidates heated up in Iowa and New Hampshire (and how do you feel about the reality of those tiny states with their tiny populations of single-issue largely rural [or in N.H.’s case, refugees from urban life] overwhelmingly homogenous Caucasians usurping your opportunity to influence the election process?), and Bloomberg himself publicly resisted overt movement.
Now, finally, on the cusp of 2008 itself, the third-party initiative opened itself for public view, and as far as NYTimes is concerned (and in this particular case, all politics are local, indeed), it’s all about Mayor Bloomberg.
Bloomberg Moves Closer to Running for President
By SAM ROBERTS | Published: December 31, 2007
Buoyed by the still unsettled field, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is growing increasingly enchanted with the idea of an independent presidential bid, and his aides are aggressively laying the groundwork for him to run.
On Sunday, the mayor will join Democratic and Republican elder statesmen at the University of Oklahoma in what the conveners are billing as an effort to pressure the major party candidates to renounce partisan gridlock.
Former Senator David L. Boren of Oklahoma, who organized the session with former Senator Sam Nunn, a Democrat of Georgia, suggested in an interview that if the prospective major party nominees failed within two months to formally embrace bipartisanship and address the fundamental challenges facing the nation, “I would be among those who would urge Mr. Bloomberg to very seriously consider running for president as an independent.”
Finally, Bloomberg has been showing some signs of interest…
And Mr. Bloomberg himself has become more candid in conversations with friends and associates about his interest in running, according to participants in those talks. Despite public denials, the mayor has privately suggested scenarios in which he might be a viable candidate: for instance, if the opposing major party candidates are poles apart, like Mike Huckabee, a Republican, versus Barack Obama or John Edwards as the Democratic nominee.
This is getting serious, indeed: tickets are being explored.
Mr. Boren declined to say which candidate would be strongest, but suggested “some kind of combination of those three: Bloomberg-Hagel, Bloomberg-Nunn.” He said Mr. Bloomberg would “not have to spend a lot of time raising money and he would not have to make deals with special interest groups to raise money.”
“Normally I don’t think an independent candidacy would have a chance” said Mr. Boren, who is the University of Oklahoma’s president. “I don’t think these are normal times.”
Certainly not normal times, indeed.
[Please click the link below for the complete article — but then please come on back!]
Bloomberg Moves Closer to Running for President – New York Times
It increasingly sounds like Michael Bloomberg could be talked into a run. And, yr (justifiably) humble svt believes that he’s got the chops to run a strong campaign (are we not all crying out for a change for the better?).
Most importantly, I believe that he would be ready to get immediately to work to fix the dysfunction he would inherit.
Bloomberg’s record of accomplishment as mayor of our biggest, toughest to govern metropolis is outstanding, and, we hasten to add, unlike a former mayor of NYC with troubling friends and private life, is not solely built on the manufactured post-perceptions of one horrible day.
Speaking of the times, we musn’t lose sight of the dire state of our vaunted democratic nation.
Thus, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share this video, not our usual style here at Left-Handed Complement.
Business as usual doesn’t cut it any longer.
Run, Michael Bloomberg, run!
It’s it for now. Thanks,
–MUDGE
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Left-handed Complement 
Ha, nice video!
Since we seem to be largely in agreement, I’ll leave your readers with these further thoughts:
It will be rare that you find a candidate that agrees with you on every single issue. But at the end of the day, the President is the executive manager of the world’s most powerful enterprise, the US government. I believe most voter’s underestimate the value of competence. As long as a candidate doesn’t have too many positions that I disagree with (let’s face it, we’ll all disagree with some of them about some things), what is most important to me is, do they have the competence, and the experience to manage such an enterprise? Will they keep the economy strong? Will they make sound judgement in a crisis? Will they hire competent people, or just give valuable positions to unqualified individuals because they either have party connects or “owe” someone because of a campaign contribution?
What I most abhor are career politicians. This goes for both Republicans and Democrats.
The reality is, in our competitive society, the most talented among us do not often pursue positions in government, they pursue fortune in the private sector. To get the best of what is available to us, I wish to see a seasoned executive manager from the private sector in the White House.
This is what I see in Michael Bloomberg.
When the economy is strong. When everyone has a job. People tend to be less concerned about the differences among us. When the economy is bad, and people are unemployed, everyone looks for someone to point the finger at, and politicians look for divisive wedge issues to distract their constituents from the real problems at hand.
Rather than look for these hot-button issues, I hope more people can be compelled to vote for intelligent competence in governance, over partisanship.
Bloomberg is the right man at the right time.
To read what politicians from both parties, business leaders and other influential individuals of note are saying about a possible presidential run by Mike Bloomberg, have a look here:
http://www.RunMikeRun.com
There are also videos of Bloomberg being interviewed and speaking about issues.
Best regards,
Chris
[…] to the significance of its population (this nanocorner of the ‘Sphere© put it this way the other day: “how do you feel about the reality of those tiny states with their tiny populations of […]
Chris,
Thanks for your useful commentary. I remain hopeful that the next President of the U.S. will be a person capable, effective and motivated to get things done.
–mudge
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