Blogging has been light. Blogging here is always light! But it has been light because we have been enjoying Snowzilla.
There is no “Winter Storm Jonas.” That’s a Weather Channel marketing term. The proper term for the recent storm is “storm.” Or Snowzilla!
Anyway, among other things, I just learned that Mike Bloomberg is thinking about running for President. I am sure that many others have pointed out that he can’t win and would likely throw the race to the Republicans.
My question is, why would he bother? What is the raison d’être for his candidacy? Hillary Clinton isn’t friendly enough to Wall Street? Bernie Sanders would insult rich people? Insufficient citizens are frisked by police?
I kid, but the question is serious. What in the name of God could possibly be driving Mr. Bloomberg to even think about such a thing? I don’t understand, and not just because this blog was not a huge fan of his mayoralty. Oh, he wasn’t a terrible mayor. The bureaucracy was efficient. PlaNYC was pretty cool, if a bit overrated.
But what is a Bloomberg presidency supposed to bring to America that a Clinton administration wouldn’t?
I am left with the possibility that he would run solely to spite Bernie Sanders, in the still unlikely event that the Senator from Vermont should get the nomination. That seems ... petty. And it is contradicted by the fact that he really does seem to be thinking about running against Hillary as well.
Help me out here. Why is he even thinking about this? What does he think he brings that she does not?
Could it be simple ego? (Given a choice between bigot New York billionaire and sheeny New York billionaire, who would the 27% choose?)
Posted by: NYCMT | January 25, 2016 at 01:52 PM
Dumb thought. Really dumb thought.
But maybe if he does this, it's an attempt to bait Trump into running independently? If Trump Vader loses in either the primaries or at the convention, then if Bloomberg goes at it independently, he could bait Trump into doing the same. Then withdraw. Trump's ego wouldn't let him do so; therefore, Trump ensures the GOP defeat, even if Clinton would have probably won anyways.
Posted by: Will Baird | January 26, 2016 at 12:18 AM
Will: that is imaginable, but if it's the case it wouldn't require all the preparation. Right now, he seems to be examining a run with the assumption that Trump or Cruz is the GOP nominee.
I'm at a loss. What's the ideology? NYCMT is the only thing I can think of. But that's weird, given that Bloomberg can't possibly win.
Posted by: Noel Maurer | January 26, 2016 at 06:32 PM
Simplest possible hypothesis: Bloomberg wants Trump to win.
Posted by: Matt McIrvin | January 26, 2016 at 07:44 PM
Bloomberg has surrounded himself with enough Beltway insider types who genuinely believe that Hillary is toxic and is about to be indicted. Bloomberg would be the only way to stop Trump from winning. Maybe?
Posted by: Logan | January 27, 2016 at 11:22 AM
Bloomberg believes in himself and the bottomless appeal of radical centrism to the broader American public.
Basically, what Logan said. The constituency for this is every broken hearted op-ed columnist in NYC-DC axis who misses daddy.
Posted by: McDevite | January 27, 2016 at 12:48 PM