(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...America Continues Byzantine Primary Process, Meanwhile Bloomberg Addresses the Issues
As I was watching the so called sweeping victory of Hillary Clinton in Nevada, I began to ask myself the following questions. How does popular vote translate into delegates, and how do delegates translate into victory in the nominating conventions?
On the Democratic side, although Hillary has won New Hampshire and Nevada she is also 2 delegates behind Barack Obama. These delegates are the voters in the party’s nominating convention in August. In short primary delegates matter more than primary voters. So far the Democratic delegate count is: Obama 38, Clinton 36, and Edwards 8, with votes in South Carolina and Florida to occur prior to February 5th. (CNN)
On the Republican side, the Romney landslide and in Nevada and the McCain victory in South Carolina are less conclusive. The delegate count for the Republican party is as follows: Romney 66, McCain 32, Huckabee 24. Republicans still have Florida and Maine to go before Super Tuesday. (CNN)
What does all of this mean for Mike Bloomberg? It’s simple, while these current candidates have been busy slinging rhetoric around about: who can change Washington the most, who will reduce/increase taxes the most, who has the most experience, etc. Today, Mike Bloomberg, Ed Rendell and Arnold Schwarzenegger launched a new Bi-Partisan initiative:
“Building America’s Future” is a not-for-profit organization that will be made up of elected and executive officials serving at the state and local levels of government. In the short term, the coalition will work with presidential candidates and the platform committees of the national political parties to ensure that the next president understands the enormity of the infrastructure crisis and is committed to increasing federal funding. In the long term, the coalition will serve as a repository of best practices on infrastructure funding issues and become a think tank focusing on emerging infrastructure issues.
On Friday, Mike Bloomberg met with Lance Armstrong and former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona to discuss methods for increasing cancer research. Lance Armstrong said:
“I’m sure there’s a lot of questions about whether he’s in or not in, but at the end of the day, he’s representing an independent agenda and the best interests of the people.”
So my synopsis of the day’s events is that while the current candidates participated in politics as usual, people like Lance Armstrong, Ed Rendell, Richard Carmona, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and of course Mike Bloomberg, actually changed them.
January 20th, 2008 at 3:42 am
The non-profit non-partisan coalition, “Building America’s Future”, is an example of the leadership we need. While the MSM and other candidates are campaigning instead of leading, we have to sit through the typical paralysis of inaction in Washington.
If the economy is the number one issue, why is it that we are forced to consider a short term economic stimulus band-aid to fix the problem? The short answer is that our elected politicians have not paid attention to economic sustainability factors like long-term infrastructure investment that goes to the heart of how well we compete, innovate, and live.
The American Society of Civil Engineers has estimated that it will take 1.6 trillion dollars over the next five years to get our infrastructure up to snuff.
Thanks for paying attention Mike!
January 20th, 2008 at 4:08 am
You can call this issue “infrastructure” if you like, but I prefer to call it:
Economy
Environment
Energy
January 20th, 2008 at 5:46 am
The corruption of the Clinton Democrats was apparent in Nevada. An essay on “widespread cheating” last night brought over 1,300 comments on the Democratic youth venue Daily Kos and is raising rage among the somnambulant Democrats. The Clintons are possibly the most corrupt Democrats ever to enter American politics as Democratic supporter and benefactor David Geffen as suggested. Bill Clinton is Boss Tweed and a million dollar bribe to get a supporter out of jail barely raises an eyebrow with these people. Last night Bloomberg’s State of the City ran on C Span as results were coming in. The contrast between Bloomberg/Arnold and the American Idol group running for President is astonishing. They will replace one of the parties (with PA’s Ed Rendell perhaps as a Triumverate) - the question is now, which one?
January 20th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Mike Bloomberg.com has just sent out an email regarding the Building America’s Future coalition. It seems that the Rockefeller Foundation has committed to fund and staff the project, how interesting.
January 20th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
THAT is the type of Centrist coalition building on the real issues we need now in this nation. Great to see action on solutions instead of electioneering pandering by most of the current candidates. hopefully it will draw people back from the extremist base fringe to the center. If not, Mike and such centrist coalitions/alliances will be ready to offer up a legit alternative!! I take it as a warning notice/marker to The other 2 parties that maybe the era of “feel-good” pandering to their respective political bases is THRU!!
January 20th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
How dare Mayor Bloomberg suggest that there are long term issues that this country faces??? Doesn’t he realize that our presidential candidates need only to make vague statements about change and leave it at that! If some pesky reporter asks for specifics, he just needs to say how he can wave a magic wand and immediately bring jobs back to Michagan or completely socialize our health care system overnight without costing anyone a nickel. None of these long term generational plans to improve our infrastructure or transition our economy off of fossil fuels.
January 20th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Yep! The sheer audacity of such a claim! Bloomberg may even stoop to outlining the costs/shared sacrifices needed to implement solid bipartisan solutions that might connect the vast and growing ends-means disconnects DC politicians (and their special interest K-St lobbyist fellow travelers) have foisted on us. The audacity of it all!!