Ken Berwitz
Let me show you a key excerpt, and then we\’ll discuss:
Republicans campaigning in New Hampshire said they thoughtBloomberg\’s entry into the race would only help the GOP in the generalelection.
“Gun control\’s not that popular in our country, so I thinkit\’ll be probably splitting some of the Democrat vote if that\’s one of his keyissues to run on,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-K.Y.) as he left the New HampshireGOP\’s First in the Nation Town Hall Nashua, N.H. “That seems to be what\’sactivated in and inspired him in recent elections – gun control. So if hesplits the Democrat vote and goes for gun control, that might be good forRepublicans.”
“That\’s great,” (former interim Senator Scott) Brown said of a potential Bloomberg run. “He\’s just so liberal and out of touch with Main Street America.”
Carly Fiorina, who spoke at the same forum in Nashua,invoked Bloomberg\’s name in dismissing liberal calls to focus on climatechange.
“With all due respect, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama – and Michael Bloomberg for that matter – climate change is not our greatestthreat,” she said.
So, do you agree?
Well, Bloomberg certainly is on the left side when it comes to gun control, and he certainly is a believer in climate change. In fact, Michael Bloomberg is on the liberal/left side of most issues. That argues strongly for what these Republicans are saying.
But Bloomberg is also a pragmatist rather than a doctrinaire ideologue who can, and has, backed away from positions when they get to the point where they are hurting more than helping. And, for that reason, I suspect he can also bring in Republicans who may not like his on-paper positions on issues, but trust him more to do the right thing when push comes to shove, than some of their party\’s current candidates.
Remember, Bloomberg was a successful Mayor of New York City – and one who\’s success was not built on spending the city\’s future resources, thus leaving disaster in his wake – i.e. the way cities like Detroit, and Saint Louis, and Chicago, and – pointedly – Flint, Michigan have been run. If he were ideologically bound to one side of the political aisle, that could not have happened.
The bottom line? If I had to put percentages on it, I\’d probably think he could pull more Democrat than Republican votes. But he\’d pull Republicans votes too.
His chances for victory? If James Buckley, William F.\’s at-least-as-conservative brother, could become a senator from New York State in a three way race, and a human cartoon like Jesse Ventura could win a three way race for Governor of Minnesota, don\’t bet against someone like Michael Bloomberg doing the same in 2016.
