Mayor Bloomberg Tells Jews To Reject Obama Smears
I like Mayor Bloomberg. In fact, I told my New York homies to vote for him both times he ran and I'm glad I did. He's a fine mayor.
He's also a fair guy as evidenced by this. You cannot overestimate how influential Bloomberg is with those Jewish voters who care about endorsements from landsmen. Unlike Joe Lieberman and the Bush-D'Amato supporter, Ed Koch, he is not particularly controversial. (Not only the best mayor since LaGuardia but also one of the richest people in the world).
I don't know if Bloomberg is on the VP list. I would hope that an African-American would not put another minority on the ticket (if he did, I'd be for Carl Levin). But he deserves consideration. And thanks for doing this.
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It's okay with me if you want to like him, MJ. I find him smug and paternalistic though competent. But he's not a Democrat. Obama doesn't need an independent or an independent Republican on his ticket. We're going to win this time (I think, I hope) and there are tons of qualified Democrats for Veep and for every cabinet post. There's no reason we shouldn't pick from our own party.
And we have to stop being so darned nice! When Republicans have a fundraising advantage they use it without apology. When a Republican wins the White House they fill the executive and judicial branches with other Republicans. Now it's our time to proudly press our fundraising advantage and to fill two branches of government with more better Democrats and Bloomberg isn't one.
June 20, 2008 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bloomburg is a Democrat who only changed his party to GOP so that he could run for mayor. Then he changed to independent. He is not a Republican in Democrat drag. He was a Democrat in GOP drag, but no more.
June 20, 2008 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
kudos the mayor bloomberg
http://sensico.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/dwc-checklist-4-change-part-2/
June 20, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
He may have said something good about Obama, but he is still a crappy mayor.
June 20, 2008 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bloomberg is a corporatist. He made NYC safe for the super-rich and non-smoking activists. Obama should not consider him or any other GOPer in sheep's clothing as a running mate.
June 20, 2008 6:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I live in California and of course, unless you're actually living in the jurisdiction of the major, I'll leave the judgment to those who know him better. But nonetheless, I couldn't have said it better myself. I only wish Bloomberg's defense had come sooner rather later (back at the beginning of the debates when Brian Williams had posed that e-mail smear question to Obama). But it's worth repeating it here if you missed it...
"While talking to a group of Jewish voters in Boca Raton, New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg called on those in attendance to defend Obama against a "whisper campaign" that the presumptive Democratic nominee is a radical Muslim and commended McCain for sticking up for his opponent.
Acknowledging that the rabbi said he could not talk about the candidates, Bloomberg said he was going to talk about the election process instead. However, he quickly brought up Obama's name, saying it was important as Jewish people and voters to "keep the conversation focused on the facts and not let it to descend into false rumor and innuendo."
"Unfortunately, we have already started to see that happen," Bloomberg said to the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. "As I am sure many of you know, there are plenty of emails floating around the internet targeting Jewish voters and saying that Senator Obama is secretly a Muslim and a radical one at that. Let's call these rumors what they are -- lies. They are cloaked in concern for Israel, but the real concern is about partisan politics and Israel is just being used as a pawn."
"We cannot be pawns in that process," he continued. "These demagogues are hoping to exploit the political differences between the Jews and the Muslim people to spread fear and mistrust. This is wedge politics at its worst and we have to reject it loudly, clearly, and unequivocally."
Bloomberg also stressed that the United States is a country that protects the freedom of religion, and the Jewish people "have a particular responsibility" to promote that. "We cannot allow people to go on and demagogue and use stereotypes and start whisper campaigns. It is an outrage and we of all people know how hurtful that can be."
But Bloomberg was quick to show he was not promoting one candidate over another, giving McCain credit for his efforts. "He's done the right thing by denouncing this whisper campaign, which speaks to his character as a stand up guy and an honest leader. And, after all, Sen. McCain knows what it is to be a target of a whisper campaign. He faced the same slimy low ball tactics during the 2000 South Carolina primary."
June 20, 2008 10:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bloomberg is a "good enough" Mayor but is over praised because he has the great virtue of not being Guiliani. Or to be fair, of not being Dinkens who was clearly a nice man but a weak executive.
His speech in Boca Raton is consistent with his good side as some one who cools ethnic tensions.His support of some mega building projects left me cold.
Not high on my list of VP's - I strongly prefer Hillary for her ability to rally her base.
June 21, 2008 8:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary's chances of becoming VP are more slim with each passing day. It probably won't REALLY happen. Otherwise, the Republicans would have so much fodder, basically using Obama's/Clinton's words against each other, the Repubs could make such mockery and fools of them and the Dems, it wouldn't be funny, especially by all calculations, the November election is statistically theirs to lose.
Does anyone know more about this: Obama has a new presidential-like seal, and may be violating Federal copyright laws (18 USC 713: Use of likenesses of the great seal of the United States, the seals of the President and Vice President, the seal of the United States Senate, the seal of the United States House of Representatives, and the seal of the United States Congress.)
If true, Obama needs to modify that seal so as not to infringe on the laws. Instead of an eagle, how about a hmmm....a dove for peace, not as dramatic but more aligned with his political views on the war, a dove flittering about until cousin Dick Cheney can shoot it down with his hunting rifle....
June 21, 2008 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is Bloomberg a good mayor if you completely exclude the events around the 2004 Republican Convention, with massive law enforcement overreach & crushed dissent?
I'm just gonna leave that question out there.
Choosing Republicans as running mates and cabinet members is a nonstarter. I thought it was common knowledge over here that the 'Unity' in 'Magical Unity Pony' came with a wink.
June 22, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bloomberg isn't on the VP list - of that, we can be sure. He simply doesn't have national standing. New York hasn't been the center of the American universe for a long, long time; you say "Mike Bloomberg" in Moline, Ill., and folks wiil draw a blank. Is he a sports announcer? Wasn't he bass player for the old J. Geils Band? Even with the cachet of 9/11, Giuliani couldn't make a dent in the primary race. True, Bloomberg doesn't have his predecessor's... baggage... but he doesn't have Giuliani's name-recognition, either.
June 23, 2008 10:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
You know MJ, something about this really bothers me -- I mean how can we get away from recommending candidates to others based on religion. Look -- I hate the two members of my very small religious group who ever emerged as anything -- Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon have always been on my shit list, even if they are (or were) Quakers. I would never consider recommending anyone vote for either of them, I certainly would not respect an endorsement from either, and I don't feel any pressure to be sorry for this feeling. In fact most Quakers I know wonder what it was about the discipline or tradition that made them into such dead fish. Hoover was probably the better of the two because he fed all those starving people during World War One -- but still, as moral leaders or even weighty Quakers, they leave much to be desired. (I find nothing in Nixon redemptive). (I even went to visit Hoover's Museum in West Branch Iowa to see if I could find more than was apparent, and it was a disappointment.)
So why should Bloomberg's going to Florida to rip into those doing internet fraud on Obama be all so important? What's the problem with the retired Jews in Florida taking it upon themselves to figure out the truth or false nature of a rumor? Asking questions about who started it, or what psychology it plays on, and particularly why someone thinks they are the sort to buy or be con'ed into the rumor?
I'd like some reflection on this observation. Most Catholics I know tell me that when a Priest starts talking candidates or politics from the pulpit in the midst of Mass these days, they plug in their I-Pod's and select serious music. Likewise, Unitarian Friends tell me they now want Authors, Poets, and Scientists for Forums -- no more Politics. So what is this Bloomberg thing all about? Please Reflect.
June 23, 2008 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink