(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
Loading ...Who Will Draft Bloomberg?
Our purpose here is to draft Mike Bloomberg to run for President of the United States. 
We feel that as an experienced no-nonsense candidate that cannot be bought, America could benefit tremendously from his leadership.
Now that Super Duper Tuesday has come and gone, we still have a topsy-turvy race that promises to keep Americans on the edge of their political seats. Some think that since McCain is destined to be the GOP candidate, Bloomberg will lose his voter base. The article goes so far as to imply that Bloomberg could be McCain’s running mate. More such speculation abounds about a VP meeting between Bloomberg and Obama back in April of 2007.
There are obviously enough nation busting issues out there whose resolution warrants a hard look at Michael Bloomberg in the inner circle. So, will the draft Bloomberg movement, the Dems, or the GOP successfully draft Mike Bloomberg?
February 7th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Don’t know if anyone heard about this or not but this morning I was walking down the street and noticed this driving next to me (see link). It’s great to see the draft bloomies coming up with new and unique ways to advertise an independent bid.
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/ny-nymike0205,0,7448101.story?track=rss
Anyone else see this??
February 7th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Well, with Romney out, it certainly looks like McCain has the nomination wrapped up. But, I don’t think Bloomberg would lose his true base. There are enough Independents out there who are not supportive of McCain’s stance on the Iraq war. I would like to look at it from the other way, and ask “Who would Bloomberg draft for VP”?
February 7th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Sam Nunn or Chuck Hagel (assuming Obama is somehere on the Demo ticket). If you see those two (Hagel or Nunn) jumping back to their respective parties candidates THEN and only then will Blommie probably forgo an attempt at a legit Indy run. So watch carefully what those 2 do as to maybe a clue on what Bloomie may do.
February 7th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Good thought about watching Nunn and Hagel. Tonight on CNN they aired a clip with Gov. Ed Rendel and Gov. Swartzenegger. Since there is nothing significant in the new budget about infrastructure, the Govs were asking the candidates what their plans are for rebuilding our country’s infrastructure.
I see signs that the centrist coalition is beginning to ask the questions and that there are looming scenarios setting the stage for a Bloomberg entrance.
February 7th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Something to watch - WHO is asking the tough questions in the big issues and WHAT are the candidates saying (pandering vs realistic costed out approaches to a solution). We need to hold ourselves accounatble to ask the tough questions and hold our candidates accountable for giving us some realistic answers and not just campaign/platform spin!! If those candidates/parties do not give realistic plausible answers, THEN that makes a Bloomie candidacy from the rational doable Center plausible!!
February 8th, 2008 at 5:48 am
McCain is not known as a particularly good manager. He is more of a classic Senator, discussing and debating. On top of that the Republican party is in tatters and needs to be rebuilt from the bottom up. McCain would need a very competent VP or Chief of Staff - one like James A. Baker. That should be Bloomberg if he would take the job. They would also bring Arnold in. Secretary of State possibly.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:24 am
I always liked Jim Baker - the main reason for Reagan’s success andrelative success of Gulf War 1. One of Bush 2’s biggest failings was not getting Jim Baker on board high in his administration. Would have mitigated lots of angst all the way around IMHO.
February 8th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I love Bloomberg and I hope he runs for president, so don’t take this the wrong way, but Bloomberg is an ego maniac. There is no way he’d play second fiddle to any of these people who have far shorter resumes than he does (with the exception of mccain’s res, but he needs to shore up the repub base, so bloom makes no sense for him). Best match up for Mike is Clinton McCain. Take independents from McCain, and disappointed obama supporters from Hillary.
February 8th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Swipe against McCain:
http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/07/mccain-chooses-not-to-make-tough-vote/
February 8th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I agree with your SMP as far as matchup goes. I’d even further suggest that the potential “disgruntled Obama supporter” crowd IS the core of what would be a Bloomberg run.
If, in the end, Hillary pulls the dirty tricks of re-instating Florida and Michigan, and steals the nomination away from the popular front runner, there will be millions driven far beyond rage.
We’ve already seen it on DailyKOS when Hillary won NH. There were posts all over the place stating outright that they’d vote for Bloomberg, or even McCain, but NOT Hillary.
Too much baggage, and everyone knows it…
February 9th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
It’s looking more and more like the Clinton/Obama matchup will go all the way to the convention. Wild times.
So Bloomberg would probably have to jump in the race not knowing who the Dem nominee is going to be.
February 9th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
It occurred to me recently that a large portion of the Democratic superdelegation could intentionally withhold their decision until the Convention. They’d do this specifically to dissuade Bloomberg from running by not allowing the front runner to be known.
There was a lot of talk in 2007 about how starting this whole process so much earlier creates a window of opportunity for 3rd/independent candidates. People might become sick of the major party candidates and be open to other options. That was the Unity08 goal from the start.
But in intentionally snaring the nominee decision until the very end slowly and quietly shuts that window of opportunity.
February 10th, 2008 at 4:55 am
Hagel states in the NYT (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/bloomberg-hagel-ticket-fading-fast/ ) that Bloomie did indeed approach him about being on a Third Party Presidential bid Ticket.
If at that time the sentiment was that McCain would be a problem, then the strategy needs to reassess and focus on the growing Obama machine.
Come on Bloomie! I want to hear about a vision and not just how to manage!
February 10th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Mike better do it quick that reassessment. I think he will loon closely at qhat happens this “Chesapeake Tuesday” and the trends in the few days right . Never thought we’d actually have a chance to chime in on this here in DC and area.
If it looks to Mike that Hillary is on the ropes after this tuesday Obama big sweep (Obama winning 60% looks very possible in all 3) and that the fund raising trend lines and poll movement in texas and ohio show a big move to obama shortly thereafter, I think mike will pull back and not announce. I’m hearing that the Clinton camp is now scared sh**less that Obama is foing to sweep BIG this Tuesday and put the followon staes in BIG jeopardy.
But if she can keep it close Tuesday and look like she can pulls this out then Bloomie will probably jump in by next weekend. Anyway it slices I just wish Mike would keep chiming on the big issues that matter and let the rest worry about delegate counts and the horserace. stay tuned!!
February 11th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Its so good to hear you guys talking political tactics, I didnt read a peep from you over at Unity on this topics.
I almost never disagree with Greg, but I’ll make a leap this morning. (Its Minnesota cold in Michigan today.)
The Dem superdelegate situation is all about waiting to see if they can find a good reason/excuse to vote for Obama rather than Clinton. They’ll succeed; Obama will stay close in primaries and dominate in caucuses.
So I’m expecting an Obama-McCain general. Bloomberg shouldn’t run for Prez but may end up in a key position in the new administration, no matter who wins!
I love Obama’s coalition though; Blacks in the south, whites in the Plains. Its the same coalition that can be used to form a third centrist party at some point when the right people are ready.
I was wrong about that Ohio stuff, I’ve learned my lesson. I’m new at politics but am have expertise, or at least a professional bcakground, in demographics.
February 13th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Demograhics is destiny - all the other social sciences are Middle Ages Soothsayer stuff!
February 13th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
(…expertise in demographics and if I could spell, I’d have a future.)
Maybe we wont get Cornhusker common sense this year but you helped me think about Prairie populism as a good starting point for political revival in the country.
February 13th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Of the many interesting things that will happen with an Obama presidential win is that if it turns out to be a bust, that is, if he betrays and turns into the same old story, there will be something new in 2012.
Put simply, the Republican party was fiercely repudiated in the 2006 mid terms. Then congress went one to disappoint terribly. If Obama wins and nothing changes, there’s simply nothing left to blame. There will be no more excuses to make. It’s then that people will finally be ready to leave the two party system. Those of us at the front of any movement are always the ones that can see the farthest. Those behind will be following suit soon enough.
It’s terribly ironic that not only is Obama running on a message to save the nation, but that he might be saving the two party system from extinction without the elites of those two parties even realizing it…;)
February 14th, 2008 at 8:03 am
If an Obama Presidency works, I’ll tend to think of him as a Prairie populist (parents from Kansas).
But he will be under the influence of the Liberal money/party members/PACs. Can he run the country w/o them having too big a role?
I think the neocons were rebuked in 2006 and still dont have a response. The Republican party that emerges from the convention may not be the same old party that walks in.
(Of course I dream of a split, with moderate and neocon organizations following.)
In any situation, I wish there were a centrist voice to challenge Obamas’ & McCains’ policies during the general. They both get independent voters, but do they betray them with policies?
If Clinton wins Ohio and ties in Texas, whats the next step for you guys?
Your musician colleague is doing great work by linking regional organizations. I hope there is some follow-up to his effort in all scenarios.
Bloomie is a great guy because he works by consensus, but I’m not enthused by his win big or stay home approach to this election. (Thats how we all should approach investment strategy, but we’re talking politics now.)Would he back somebody else in a third party bid?
We need a prairie populist voice in this country.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Regardless of whether Bloomie decides to run, he is that big voice speaking out for the sake of all those small voices that cannot be heard.
Those of us that have been listening to that voice also know that the MSM and the candidates have been unable to ignore the substance being presented.
For instance, the first suggestion that came out of the Oklahoma University Bipartisan Forum (MB was a major player), was that the candidates spell out their plans for uniting the country.
Obama’s message is a mirror image of unification. Leadership is about a vision and getting people to follow that lead. That which McCain mistakenly calls “platitudes”, is the binding energy that will determine positive reform and policies. McCain doesn’t realize that the true power comes from the people and that a President alone making decisions in the face of differing agendas will not yield fruit. That is the partisanship of our current direction.
I would rather have a leader with a vision without specifics than a leader with no vision and an agenda.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Well, the whole reason many of us are encouraged by Obama is that he hasn’t taken a dime from PACS and classic internal party structures. He refused to from the start. He’s raised the money from the people. This is why I equate his run to being like Unity08 in that it’s an authentic people-powered run. Mike’s run would be in similar spirit as far as rejecting lobbyist money, but right now that anti-business-as-usual crowd is in Obama’s court. In this way it limits Bloomberg’s ability to get going.
The general election may be a problem for Obama in that the national committees fund them. That’s where the big money comes in, and much of it is raised from the same big money sources regardless of party; it’s big business hedging their bets by funding both sides, and especially the one they think will win.
The difficult part about “our next steps” is that it’s really fate that we’re chained to. The current major party races will go as they go. Bloomberg’s only real chance is if Clinton wins in a dirty sort of way that creates an angry faction we could call the “disgruntled Obama” voter. That’s the only viable scenario, but it might take until the end of August to decide. That might be intentional as a means to keep Mike on the sidelines.
Mike won’t back a third party bid because he never was supportive of third parties to begin with. He is supportive of independents (like himself). There is a major difference.
There’s a site called Third Party Watch that keeps up with all the happenings in third party land. What’s instructive about hanging around on this site for awhile is that you’ll see the fundamental problem with 3rd parties:
People can’t get along and the whole affair crumbles down and fragments long before it gets anywhere. That’s why there are 25 parties listed on the right sidebar that you’ve probably never heard of
http://www.thirdpartywatch.com/
February 14th, 2008 at 10:54 am
My assumption and view is that Obama is going to lock this in the next few weeks and Bloomie will not have space at the Top aof any ticket. Blommie can anmd should still chime in on the Biggie issues and draw a good contrast to the Howard Dean’s and the MoveOn types who are out to capture gratutiously the Obama flame. They may have a rude awakening!!
In spite of “Screamin Howard Dean” and the Move On groupies and their missives lately if you have all notices, it is gonna be much harder than many people think to wrap the “Dubya” foreign and fiscal moniker on McCain. Might not be a good strategy because there are many ways McCain can (and has) distinguish quite clearly from Dubya on Iraq, GWOT, and Fiscal Policy (see his stand on Paygo) from the accumulated incompetencies and vast ends-means discoonects of the present Keystone Cops administration.
So Obama better be ready to offer up some good range of doable rational strategically sound alternatives from Iraq to Fiscal matters and tie up and synch up his own ends-means disconnects (there are), before he starts railing on McCain’s. THAT is the discussion and vetting of issues I am looking forward to and what this nation deserves and needs above all!! That is what Unity 08 was to be all about and with Obama vs McCain unleashed that is what can occur!!
February 14th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
“I would rather have a leader with a vision without specifics than a leader with no vision and an agenda.” Yes, I think the latter is called a manager not a leader.
Gregs scenario about Clinton winning dirty is possible IMO. It would take very, very cynical Dem superdelegates, but bad things have happened before.
If Bloomberg is one of the big voices of the unheard, I would like to hear more of it in the near future.
February 14th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I do not care how he does it. If Bloomie can get them (McCain/Obama) to talk more on specifics (costs/shared sacrifices/means of implementation required) or at least the basic approcahes to connecting Both’s current vast ends-means disconnects, THEN maybe the Prez who comes out of this coming contest will have a better more solid basis of actually governing and successfully adressing the Real Mega-Issue this country faces. So on that score I say GO Bloomie!!
February 20th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
We really need someone else in this race. I am all for Bloomberg.