Question: Why all of the Bloomerg speculation on this board?

[Hippo_Tron]

I read months ago that he had pretty much ruled out running and I haven't heard anything since. Did I miss something?

[skipos]

1. We need a new person to DOOOOOOOM us in 2008.

9iu11iani, Thompson, Huckabee and McCain have all faded.
Also, DU is obsessed with 3rd party runs for some reason.

[1corona4u]

2. Why keep talking about it

is my fucking question....it's the last thing we should be spending our time on!!!!

[BeyondGeography]

3. Here's why

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/29/AR2007122901476.html

[Mz Pip]

4. He's meeting with some politicos

next week, so speculation is rampant. We shall see!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/30/MNKEU6QC3.DTL&hw=Bloomberg&sn=001&sc=1000

Mz Pip
:dem:

[dkf]

5. Because lots of people can't stand Hillary "IWR" Clinton

If its a done deal before the primary, I'll have to make the best of my choices in the general.

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. Bloomberg supported IWR also. More enthusiastically, actually. nt

[dkf]

7. Well then, I'll have to look beyond the IWR won't I?

seeing as how every Presidential candidate would have supported it and none would have apologized for it.

Which goes back to how Democrats can't even oppose this war correctly. Rather pathetic really.

[Kucinich4America]

8. Dennis Kucinich didn't support it

So he can count on your vote, right? :)

[dkf]

10. I'm talking about the General. I don't have a vote in the Primary.

It'll be done by the time it comes here.

[sandnsea]

9. What??

Clarify because your remarks are bizarre, to say the least.

[dkf]

12. If the Dems pick Hillary they will have a nominee who still defends her vote for the IWR.

No apology, no repentance from her.

[sandnsea]

15. Oooh, you mean in the general, I see n/t

[aquart]

22. So it IS NOT Hillary's IWR vote. That's just your excuse.

What a surprise.

[dkf]

26. Like I said if we are left in the general with only supporters for the IWR then I guess I have to

vote for one of them wouldn't you say?

I guess I could waste my vote completely and not even show up.

[Smarmie Doofus]

29. Obama opposed it. Kucinich and Gravel ( I asssume) also .nt

[annie1]

11. except they don't seem to mind iwr Biden or edwards or bloomberg. weird. hmmmm.

[dkf]

13. I don't know about Bloomberg, but Biden and Edwards said they were wrong.

At least they can acknowledge a mistake.

[annie1]

14. i just posted a link for biden's defending it. but now i can't find it...

shoot. but he defended his vote and i don't think hil should apologize, b/c it doesn't make a difference, it's a little bit day late and dollar short. And you know just as well as i do, that any dem is going to get hit for their apology during the general. i don't think it's a great idea.

and here's bloom btw. :)
When Laura Bush came to New York in May 2004 to dedicate a public park to those who died on 9-11, Bloomberg followed her defense of the Iraq war with his own. "Let me add something to that," he said. "Don't forget that the war started not very many blocks from here." The Times reported that the mayor was "promoting one of the notions that is central" to the war's rationale, namely that it's "justified by what happened on Sept. 11."

In September 2004, he said to applause from a small Staten Island organization: "I'm voting for George W. Bush and it's mainly because I think we have to strike back at terrorists. To argue that Saddam Hussein wasn't a terrorist is ridiculous. He used mustard gas or some kind of gas against his own people."

When Bloomberg appeared before the annual Lincoln Day dinner of the Staten Island GOP in April 2003, he declared: "We are going to get George W. Bush re-elected as president of the United States. We are going to carry New York city and state. Everybody thinks I'm crazy, but I think we can do it." Newsday reported that he "was as boosterish of the Iraqi war effort as he had been so far," quoting him as saying: "It's not only to protect Americans. It's America's responsibility to protect people around the world who want to be free." In this midwar salute, Bloomberg concluded that Bush was "standing up, doing the tough things, and that's what we need for the city."

[annie1]

16. here's an exerpt of Biden...

"The discussion began after Biden, criticizing the president's policies regarding Iran to about 80 people at the Adel Public Library, cited a recent national intelligence report that said Iran abandoned its weapons production in 2003.
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"How can you believe all that?" interjected Dean Costlow, 67, of Winterset, who said it was contradictory for Congress to take current findings seriously when it was failed intelligence that resulted in the war in Iraq.

It wasn't necessarily failed intelligence, Biden said, but misuse of it. He defended his vote, saying it was a directive to the United Nations to keep sanctions on Iraq. If not, the United States would have the permission to act.

"Up to this time, Bush had acted rationally," Biden said. "Everybody says they knew he would not keep the spirit of the agreement. Not true. Go back and read the major editorials of the liberal newspapers in America. He had acted rationally in Afghanistan. He didn't go to war immediately - he built the bill of particulars."

[dkf]

17. Here is an excerpt from his book where he acknowledges he made a mistake.

Voted for Iraq War resolution to avoid war in Iraq

I made my pitch for Biden-Lugar, , pointing out the very real constraints it put on the president.

But the president was giving personal assurances that he would try every avenue of diplomacy before he took the country to war. And it was clear that Colin Powell and members of the Joint Chiefs were not eager to go to war in Iraq. With that in mind, I decided to vote for the resolution.

I believed the resolution passed by Congress provided the firm & united support Powell needed to be able to get the United Nations Security Council to pass and enforce a new resolution that got the inspectors back into Iraq, kept Saddam in his box, and thus avoided a war. I wasn't alone in that.

I made a mistake. I underestimated the influence of Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the rest of the neocons; I vastly underestimated their disingenuousness and incompetence. So Bush went to war just the way the neocons wanted him to--without significant international backing.

Source: Promises to Keep, by Joe Biden, p.339-342 Jul 31, 2007

[dkf]

18. Here is more...

Regrets his war vote because Bush misused war authority
Q: In May 2003 you said, "There was sufficient evidence to go into Iraq." Then in 2004 you said, "I voted to give the president the authority to use force in Iraq. I still believe my vote was just." Then in Iowa in 2007, running for President, you said, "It was a mistake. I regret my vote."

A: That's unfair. I said it was a mistake between, and you make it sound like I went to Iowa and all of a sudden .

Q: Well, there was a change from being a just vote to a mistake.

A: Yeah, because I learned more. We were told at the time that all these Iraqi generals were ready to step up and take on Saddam. We had commitments at the time from the president that he would not move without the international community. There were a whole lot of things that changed.

Q: So what do you regret?

A: I regret having believed that this administration had any competence. If I'd known they were going to misuse the authority we gave them, I would have never ever given them the authority.
Source: Meet the Press: 2007 "Meet the Candidates" series Apr 29, 2007

http://www.issues2000.org/International/Joe_Biden_War_+_Peace.htm

[annie1]

19. ah, thank you.

[dkf]

21. Happy to be of help. I think Hillary is the only one who hasn't acknowledged her mistake.

Stubborn to a fault.

[annie1]

24. She is very stubborn. i think she has a lot of fear...

of getting beat up over things, so she does everything she can not to. ya know?

[dkf]

25. Yes and I do feel bad for her.

It's like the person that has been through a bad relationship and is emotionally damaged. It is hard for that person to get over it and to trust and be open and honest again. But you have to get over it if you want a successful relationship again. Otherwise you just live in the past.

Baggage. Sigh.

[annie1]

27. personally, i think it would be a huge mistake for her to "aplogize" for that vote...

i'd be worried about it affected her electability. that's jmo. b/c she actually would get beat up for it by the pubs. they'll paint her as wishy washy / flip flopper / etc.

[dkf]

28. That is acting out of fear, not out of confidence that she is doing the right thing

It is being untruthful to yourself and to the public and comes out of being weak, not strong.

[Smarmie Doofus]

31. How insulting.

>>>"Up to this time, Bush had acted rationally," Biden said. "Everybody says they knew he would not keep the spirit of the agreement. Not true. Go back and read the major editorials of the liberal newspapers in America. He had acted rationally in Afghanistan. He didn't go to war immediately - he built the bill of particulars.">>>>

So he's implying that the 22 dem senators and majority of the DEM house caucus who voted AGAINST it acted *irresponsibly* in opposing IWR.

That's not only devious and disingenuous; it's offensive.

[Smarmie Doofus]

30. Thanks for these. Keep 'em handy for when some of the...

... shall we say.... *dimmer bulbs* here on DU start fantasizing out loud about this malicious little jerk.

No one ( NO - ONE) was more anxious to get the blood bath running in Iraq than Bloomberg.

[aquart]

20. Because he's attempting to influence the primary vote.

He is also, with his "unity" crap, attempting to change the dialog of this election. "Unity" is NOT the discussion.

[dkf]

23. I think unity should be the discussion.

We need to create a working majority so that we can get things done.

All citizens of this country have common needs. We should work on what we do agree on instead of fighting over stuff we can't.