Why I Hate Bloomberg

Posted by Adam Howard at 4:48 AM on June 20, 2007.

I'm a New Yorker, no, not a born and raised New Yorker, but I've lived near here and in here long enough to feel pretty passionate about my city and its politics and I am really pissed that Mike Bloomberg is probably going to run for president.

I get furious everytime one of my liberal friends applauds Bloomberg or ends up voting for him because I feel like they'll all suffering from what I consider a post-really sucky mayor syndrome. Bloomberg seems like a great guy compared to Giuliani, in the same way that whoever replaces Bush in the White House will inevitably be treated as the nation's savior.

Obviously, Bloomberg has done some good, the city is safer than it's probably ever been and unlike his predecessor Bloomberg seems to generally care about the city's schools. But there are things about this man that have never sat well with me.

First of all, he was a Democrat before 2001. He clearly realized that he couldn't win the Democratic nomination that year without getting involved in an expensive slugfest with Freddy Ferrer and Mark Green so he just *poof* becomes a Republican. There is no amount of money you could pay me to ever become a Republican, I just hold certain principles that I can't just ignore to sign on with those clowns, but Bloomberg never had that problem. And now in 2008, Bloomberg sees that being a Republican is totally not cool and plus he'd have no chance in a GOP primary, so now *poof* I'm an independent.

Does anyone else notice a pattern here? Bloomberg only cares about winning and he doesn't care about who he's affiliated with or the cost. Speaking of cost, this man has billions at his disposal and although that doesn't necessarily mean he's a horrible person, it is a fact that he has used that money to essentially buy two mayoral elections and squash all opposition to himself. Aww man and when he brought the GOP convention to town that blew...

It's true the Democrats in New York seem to be good at only two things right now: corruption and infighting. But this is a liberal town and I hate seeing some faux-bi partisan Republican running the show.

As far as his White House prospects go, I'm scared. New York City is great at making myths. People who have never stepped foot in this city have really strong ideas about what it's like and how it functions. Hence the fact that people from outside the city often are afraid to visit me in Brooklyn because they assume every corner is crime infested. Look at Giuliani, New Yorkers know better, but a lot of Americans don't. And right now Bush has lowered the bar so low that Bloomberg's four-star "competancy" suddenly makes him seem like a reasonable option.

Ultimately though, I'm more afraid of Bloomberg acting as a spoiler for the Democrats, so we end up with a President Mitt Romney or whomever. Thankfully, Jonathan Singer has compiled a chart which theorizes what a Bloomberg independent candidacy could do, and the results are actually somewhat heartening.

The thing is though, that by February of next year, barring some real close results or a huge upset, we will know both party's nominees, and if recent history has proven anything there will be a brief honeymoon and then an almost immediate round of serious buyer's remorse. Bloomberg with all his billions, can waltz in whenever he pleases and can snatch victory away from the two broken down nominees. God, I hate that guy...

UPDATE Now Bloomberg is saying he is definitely "not a candidate" for the presidency. Yeah, right. We've heard that one before..from Obama, Clinton, and many others who are currently running. Don't be surprised if this position is reversed in March of '08.

Tagged as: election08, new york city, bloomberg

Adam Howard is the editor of PEEK.