How Would Bloomberg Alter '08 Landscape?
NYC Mayor's Party Change Brews Speculation On Who Would Suffer From His Potential Candidacy
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Play CBS Video Video What's Bloomberg Up To? New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says his decision to quit the Republican Party isn't a prelude to a presidential bid, but he's not completely ruling out a run, either. Jim Axelrod reports.
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Video Greenfield On Bloomberg Only On The Web: Sr. political correspondent Jeff Greenfield says Michael Bloomberg's break from the GOP makes sense, as now he may "be what he actually is, which is an independent."
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Video Bloomberg's 'Independent' Move New York City Mayor Bloomberg cut ties with the GOP, fueling speculation he might run for president in 2008 as an independent. Bloomberg isn't tipping his hand. Alison Harmelin reports.
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New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg fields questions at a news conference during his visit to the 311 call center in New York on June 20, 2007. A day after quitting the Republican Party and registering as unaffiliated, Bloomberg continued to send mixed signals about his intentions, discussing both his mayoral term and vowing to address the major issues facing the country. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
A day after the announcement, Bloomberg repeated his assurance that he intends to finish out his second term as mayor and will not be a candidate for president.
"I’m not running for president and I’m going to be mayor for the next 925 days," he told reporters Wednesday, adding, "I've got the greatest job in the world."
Bloomberg says he wants to send a message that politics needs to be less partisan, reports CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod.
"Today you are a piranha if you have coffee with someone from the other party, in many cases," he said.
But political advisers aren't taking Bloomberg at his word and are grappling with the reality that next year's general election could become a three-person affair.
"I think the country might be ready for a third-party candidacy — and he's got the money to do it, if he chooses to do it," said CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer.
Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat before switching to the GOP in 2001, a move that allowed him to sidestep a crowded Democratic primary field.
His liberal positions on several hot-button issues, include abortion, gun control and gay rights, lead many to believe that his impact on the election would negatively affect the Democratic nominee. The New York Times reported that several political analysts agreed that a Bloomberg candidacy would do just that.
But Bloomberg could also garner the support of disaffected GOP moderates.
Third-party candidates traditionally have siphoned off support from the party in which they left, notes CBS News political consultant Nicolle Wallace.
Such was the case when Teddy Roosevelt left the Republicans to become a Bull Moose in 1912 — a move that helped contribute to Democrat Woodrow Wilson's victory.
CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs points out that since Bloomberg will be able to bypass the primary cycle, he likely won't have to announce his candidacy until after February of next year.
"It's going to be hard to say what his impact will be until we know who the two nominees are for both parties," said Ververs said.
One of Bloomberg's more daunting tasks would be getting his name on the ballot, since state parties have control of the election process.
But Bloomberg enjoys the benefit of having some time to weigh his options.
Whether he decides to seek the nation's highest office might depend on what happens during the primaries. If the nominees are Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, for example, Bloomberg might find it difficult to find his own niche in an all-New York field.
"I think what he is truly doing here is exploring," Schieffer said. "He's testing the waters — testing the market. He's going to go around the country, he's going to make some speeches, he's going to see what kind of a reaction he gets. And if he gets a good reaction, my prediction is that he will run as an independent candidate."
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See all 50 CommentsVoting libertarian may be America's last hope for a future free from tyranny.
Too bad no one cares.
bloomberg is a trojan horse - beware freedom loving American patriots - he has "left" the GOP?
don't believe a word.
he's either out to divide the vote as third party canditdate (to guarantee a GOP win) or suffering from megalomania brought on by billions of dollars.
Posted by neoconRcrazy at 05:17 AM : Jun 21, 2007
- It's an expected move. It'll be called Israel First. Together with Joseph Lieberman as vp on IF ticket. Show me one real action taken in favor of USA by any of them... they will take orders directly from Knesset, and USA as someone said recently, will be affiliated to Jerusalem... hahaha! The new world order will have moved its center command to the Center of the world YeUrShaleem. Skepticals will be disappointed.
Adolf Hitler banned Jews from own any weapons making them defenseless before he butchered millions of them just because of their religion.
Mass murderers prefer unarmed victims.
www.a-human-right.com
"Jews are prohibited from acquiring, possessing, and carrying firearms and ammunition, as well as truncheons or stabbing weapons.
Those now possessing weapons and ammunition are at once to turn them over to the local police authority.
Firearms and ammunition found in a Jew's possession will be forfeited to the government without compensation.
Whoever willfully or negligently violates the provisions...will be punished with imprisonment and a fine.
Berlin, 11 November 1938
Minister of the Interior
Frick"
- Nazi Weapons Law of November 11, 1938
http://www.jpfo.org/NaziLawGerman.htm
"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to
possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry
arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing."
-- Adolf Hitler
bloomberg is a trojan horse - beware freedom loving American patriots - he has "left" the GOP?
don't believe a word.
he's either out to divide the vote as third party canditdate (to guarantee a GOP win) or suffering from megalomania brought on by billions of dollars.
Posted by neoconRcrazy at 05:17 AM : Jun 21, 2007
ISRAELI POLITICIANS STORM WASHINGTON!
WE SEE MORE AND MORE ISRAELI POLITICIANS ON THE NEWS AND IN WASHINGTON FOR THE LAST TWO DAYS AS THE SUPPORT FOR THEIR POLICIES HAVE FALTERED IN THE CONGRESS AS AMERICA WAKES UP!
They are making a full court press on our politicians trying to Stay the Course in Iraq and to attack Iran! Of course they want American Tax money running thru their banks before it goes to the Palestinians too!
TELL OUR POLITICIANS AND THE MEDIA NO MORE MONEY TO THE MIDDLE EAST THEY HAVE NOTHING WE NEED NO MATTER WHAT AIPAC, PNAC, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE OR THE WEEKLY STANDARD NEOCONS SAY!
FACTS ARE THE ENEMY OF BUSH AND HIS CHICKEN HAWK NEOCONS THAT SELL OUT AMERICAN BLOOD AND TREASURE FOR THE POLICY OF ISRAEL!
BE PREPARED!
ISRAELIS HIDE BEHIND PROBLEMS THEY HAD IN EUROPE 70 YEARS AGO! AS SOON AS YOU QUESTION THE POLICY OF THESE SLUGS THEY SAY A PERSON IS ANTI SEMITIC! I AM AMERICAN NOT ISRAELI AND OUR TROOPS ARENT EITHER!
"Gen. William Odom discusses the %u201Cworst strategic disaster in American history,%u201D the war in Iraq: the view of most generals that the war is wrong, the failure of the politicians to see the consequences of their actions, the centrality of the neoconservatives and the Israel lobby in pushing for the Iraq invasion, the %u201Csurge,%u201D
www.antiwar.com/blog/2007/
05/10/gen-william-odom
READ AIPAC BRAG ABOUT THEIR INFLUENCE
ON AMERICAN POLITICIANS!
http://www.aipac.org/for
ms/join_aipacClubs.htm
don't believe a word.
he's either out to divide the vote as third party canditdate (to guarantee a GOP win) or suffering from megalomania brought on by billions of dollars.
Save your money. You and Freddy don't stand a chance to win the election.
Why don't the two of you open an ice cream stand or something to keep yourselves busy.
Put your egos in a tight metal box and throw it in the Hudson.
Sheeeeesh!
If Jesus returns on his watch Bloomberg will nail him to a cross.
Jews hate muslims and christians, their women are prost-it-utes and the men herpe riddled pimps.
Posted by darkmeat4 at 10:57 PM : Jun 20, 2007
The words of the typical right wing christian republican. Scary huh? Well at least he says out loud what most of the Christian right feels inside.
Posted by yurpallid
Our "freedom" only exists if our leaders in government can obey the constitution which they have all taken an oath to protect and defend.
Unfortunately today more and more of our leaders are ignoring more and more of our constitution.
Habeus corpus is basically gone.
Kiss the 4th amendment goodbye.
Torture is the norm.
We are only one step away from martial law.
The list goes on and on.
Bush has given himself(and all future presidents) much more power than the constitution allows.
Hopefully, Americans will understand that a third party candidate may give us another neocon. A Republican, any Republican, is going to be beholden to the same corporate interests, the same religious right, the same cronies as Bush. We need a different direction from that and while the Democrats may not be perfect, they are certainly better than the Repub's at helping the middle class because of their initiatives in protecting the consumer, standing up for the environment, and promoting stem cell research which holds such promise for us all...and that is just a small sampling of their goals.
Problem is what the heck are we going to do with the likes of you?? You obviously have nothing to contribute to America and have proved you don't have the intelligence of a gnat and can only tell us what Rush tells you to say - you don't have a thought process. So when Bush's term is over what do we do with you??
You yourself have no freedoms -- your lost your freedoms when you tossed your brains down the toilet to become a Bushie - you let Rove and Hannity and Rush and Murdoch sell you soundbites and cause you can regurgitate them fairly well you have a false sense of being 'brainy'.
But never forget this - when it came down to it you chose to go against America and instead sided iwth a cowardly, childishly immature, foolishly stubborn fake-texan trust fund baby who preferred dressing up in cheerleading outfit to play football!
people in other countries love america but have disdain for it's citizens because they do not appreciate there freedoms and way of life.
We will ose our freedom if we do not cherish it.
Posted by yurpallid at 07:45 PM : Jun 20, 2007
God but you Fascist are the worst!! We have an INCOMPETENT LEADER who has LIED to us consistently but hey no problem huh? Want to know why this nation is so divided and upset? YOU... all of you Fascist and your "Liberals are to blame" mentality. When you try to put American's into a box and start Blaming them for the failures of YOUR Leaders, this is going to happen. Now slime back under your rock and we'll call you when we get it all straightened out. Sieg Heil Bush!!
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