Why Is Bloomberg Not Considered In Electability Scenarios?
January 23, 2008 | Permalink
Mike Bloomberg has dropped hints of running as someone who can fix bipartisan bickering and get things done. He gave a major economic speech in Washington today. People are more than happy to cover what Bloomberg is doing.
But no one, and I mean no one, looks at Bloomberg in the context of election scenarios. He’s less likely to run against McCain or Obama, as either of them would take away a lot of his bipartisanship appeal. But the rest of the candidates certainly seem like fair game. Even against Hillary Clinton, Bloomberg rumors have floated.
Take this entry from the Plank. Electability is gone over with a fine tooth comb, just completely around the elephant int he room. Angelo just pointed out that absolutely no one is considering Bloomberg when discussing Edwards electability issues.
Or more recently, Obama commented to David Brody that while he could get Clinton’s supporters, he did not know if she could get his. And people went into a tizzy (see here, here, and here), speculating on whom Obama’s supporters might gravitate towards. Did any of them consider Bloomberg? Absolutely none of them. (Props to the commenters who did, though.)
Look, I’m not saying he’s definitely going to run against Clinton or definitely will not run against Obama. I doubt even he’s made up his mind. But it’s absurd to discuss him as a potential candidate and refuse to look into how he actually might affect things, particularly when you’re trying to look into the future.
If you want to know why so much horserace analysis is so bad, this is a perfect example. People need to look at what is right in front of them, and not just what they think is right in front of them.
When you have the likes of Al Gore, Mike Bloomberg, and Newt Gingrich going far beyond what candidates from either side are saying, it’s worth considering the viability of a candidate who could literally drop billions in the race, especially with the delegate leaders being those of limited appeal like Clinton and Romney right now.
[Image Credit: Flickr User wallyg under a Creative Commons license]
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[...] 2008Central.net — Nonpartisan | News | Analysis | Commentary wrote an interesting post today on Why Is Bloomberg Not Considered In Electability Scenarios?Here’s a quick excerpt Mike Bloomberg has dropped hints of running as someone who can fix bipartisan bickering and get things done. He gave a major economic speech in Washington today. People are more than happy to cover what Bloomberg is doing. But no one, and I mean no one, looks at Bloomberg in the context of election scenarios. He’s less likely to run against McCain or Obama, as either of them would take away a lot of his bipartisanship appeal. But the rest of the candidates certainly seem like fair game. Even a [...]
[...] 2008Central.net — Nonpartisan | News | Analysis | Commentary wrote an interesting post today on Why Is Bloomberg Not Considered In Electability Scenarios?Here’s a quick excerpt Mike Bloomberg has dropped hints of running as someone who can fix bipartisan bickering and get things done. He gave a major economic speech in Washington today. People are more than happy to cover what Bloomberg is doing. But no one, and I mean no one, looks at Bloomberg in the context of election scenarios. He’s less likely to run against McCain or Obama, as either of them would take away a lot of his bipartisanship appeal. But the rest of the candidates certainly seem like fair game. Even a [...]
You are absolutely correct. In a gallup poll this summer in a national three way race between Romney, Bloomberg, and Clinton showed that it was a three way tie. The important things to note are:
That people have already made up their mind about Clinton .
The more people know about Romney the less they like him.
At his point Bloomberg is still relatively unknown in the nation’s heartland, however he wins people over with is management style and results.
Then again, I may be biased because I am trying to draft Mike Bloomberg at http://www.uniteformike.com