I haven’t spent much time in New York since Bloomberg got elected, and I don’t know what people there think of him these days. People everywhere else seem to have a vague idea that he’s a moderate Democrat, or a moderate Republican, or just a guy with a lot of money who’s not crazy. If he ran, he might suck away a decent chunk of the Democratic vote. That would suck.
Bloomberg is a fan of the PATRIOT Act, the Iraq war (which he’s said was necessary because we were attacked first on 9/11), and the drug war. He killed the recycling program in New York because it didn’t make money (he restarted it later, after his financial analysis turned out to be total bullshit). He wants everyone in America to be fingerprinted or have their DNA on file (I’m linking to that one because no one will believe it; you can look up the rest). During the 2004 Republican Convention, he had the cops sweep the streets for anyone vaguely resembling protesters and lock them up in warehouses. Yes, he’s is in favor of gun control and abortion rights, and he’s gay-friendly; that doesn’t make him a liberal, it makes him a New Yorker.
But this vague idea people have about him, that he’s just a sensible nebbish, fits perfectly with how he got elected. Back then, compared to Rudy and the national Republicans, he looked like the sanest and mildest guy in the world. The Democrats in the race were long-time NY politicians with baggage; all most people knew about Bloomberg was that he had money and ran a news service. His switch to the Republican party was universally seen as a move of convenience: if he wanted to run, he had to hold his nose and let Rudy shake his hand. He seemed like the furthest thing from an ideologue. And I kind of think he isn’t one, really. Unlike Rudy, I don’t think he thinks of himself as a crusader or a king or an asshole; he just thinks he’s a no-nonsense guy, a practical businessman like everyone really wants to be, with no time for all the silly politics. His opinions on things like Iraq are received opinions—he figures an ordinary guy would just want to kick Saddam’s ass, or Osama’s, or whoever. An ordinary guy wouldn’t waste time arguing with a bunch of hippie protesters; just let the cops figure it out, that’s their job. An ordinary guy wouldn’t be too upset by banning smoking in bars because, well, maybe he would but smoking is icky.
He’s not the New York Post mayor like Rudy; he’s the New York Times mayor—smug, totally blind to his privilege, and not half as smart as he thinks he is. Please don’t vote for him, unless you just like money or think he’s cute or something.