June 20, 2007

How Would Bloomberg Alter '08 Landscape?

NYC Mayor's Party Change Brews Speculation On Who Would Suffer From His Potential Candidacy

  • 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.

  • 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."

  • 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.

  • 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.

    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)

(CBS)  Michael Bloomberg's announcement that he is leaving the Republican Party has solidified the New York mayor's status as one of the most enticing non-candidates in the '08 presidential field.

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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Add a Comment See all 50 Comments
by gunownerdan June 21, 2007 4:21 PM EDT
Not only have rich corporate fascists hijacked the democrat and republican parties, now they are hijacking the independents!
Voting libertarian may be America's last hope for a future free from tyranny.
Too bad no one cares.
Reply to this comment
by grazinggoat June 21, 2007 4:02 PM EDT
GREAT POST ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ON THE MARK!

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.
Reply to this comment
by bigal321321 June 21, 2007 3:39 PM EDT
Guess what yurpallid....you'll get old and go away too. I'm sure you believe that the best substitute for experience is youth.
Reply to this comment
by greeneyes222 June 21, 2007 12:58 PM EDT
Bloomberg would be crazy to leave his power base in NY. He doesn't play well in the rest of the country for his stands on gun control, etc., so I'd be surprised to see him "garner the support of disaffected GOP moderates." I'm one, and I sure wouldn't vote for him.
Reply to this comment
by oeangus June 21, 2007 10:59 AM EDT
LOL at darkmeat4 the %u2018negro%u2019. More like %u2018Klan member%u2019. Must be some new (and very transparent) approach to keep race-hate fires burning.
Reply to this comment
by gunownerdan June 21, 2007 10:39 AM EDT
Bloomberg, being a Jew, has no excuse for supporting gun control but he does.
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
Reply to this comment
by bluestardad June 21, 2007 10:33 AM EDT
GREAT POST ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ON THE MARK!

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
Reply to this comment
by bluestardad June 21, 2007 10:30 AM EDT


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
Reply to this comment
by neoconrcrazy June 21, 2007 8:17 AM EDT
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.


Reply to this comment
by sjc_1 June 21, 2007 4:43 AM EDT
Reminds me of German citizens complaining about the ovens in Nazi Germany and the SS saying why complain, at least the trains run on time.
Reply to this comment
by tibu987 June 21, 2007 3:50 AM EDT
Mikey, Mikey, Mikey.
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!
Reply to this comment
by randalds June 21, 2007 2:43 AM EDT
Jews do not bathe and they are responsible for slavery. As a negro I find this man repulsive, do not buy into his lies, he is the son of satan as all jews are.

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.
Reply to this comment
by gunownerdan June 21, 2007 2:26 AM EDT
"We will [l]ose our freedom if we do not cherish it."
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.
Reply to this comment
by June 21, 2007 1:22 AM EDT
I am not enthralled with Bloomberg at all and I like even less the fact that he might pull from the Democrats. What I really can't fathom is how any American might think that Bloomberg is some kind of answer. His politics and stances are largely Democratic which I have no objection to, but why Bloomberg? What's he got but several billion dollars. He certainly changes parties like he changes his clothes. I think this speaks for his lack of commitment and his inability to feel any loyalty to others.
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.
Reply to this comment
by nyckate June 21, 2007 1:20 AM EDT
yurpallid - 67% of America now know that Bush has America headed down the wrong road - his failures have become terribly obvious while in comparison he has no successes.

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??
Reply to this comment
by nyckate June 21, 2007 1:17 AM EDT
yurpallid - everything we are or will lose in the near future will be because morons like you voted and and cheered on America's worst president ever - George W. Bush.

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!
Reply to this comment
by condumism June 21, 2007 1:05 AM EDT
the GOP Fascist Party of Self-Centered Pigs will suffer the most for at least the next 2 presidential election cycles. These mostly Southern Confederates are now nothing more than a regional party of losers, desperatley lying to any base of fools that will listen. Southern Conservative bigots and religious nutt cases will keep the GOP Fascit Party of Self-Cenered Pigs at the bottom of the heap for generations to come. Even the dumbest Americans' aren't buying the lies that endlessly eminate from these Southern Confederate Pigs.
Reply to this comment
by prinzowhales June 21, 2007 12:26 AM EDT
hypnotoad--I read that in India they have a car that runs on air, goes over 60mph and can travel around 160 miles on a fillup that costs $2.00. If Bloomberg is planning for hybrids, then he is going for what Big Oil calls "green"--anything that gets a few more miles per gallon--but nothing more than has already been achieved with the internal combustion engine alone. Bloomberg's road to the future is the road Big Oil wants us to take.
Reply to this comment
by mcvet June 20, 2007 10:59 PM EDT
What you are IS A BUNCH OF UNGRATEFUL SPOILED BRATS who do nothing but complain.

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!!
Reply to this comment
by hypnotoad72 June 20, 2007 10:27 PM EDT
Oh, he could have kept his designation "Republican". One would think people vote for candidates based on their proven actions and not promising words. How many years, at least 100, since politics was perverted into mud slinging contests?
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