Bloomberg will only run if...

[kentuck]

the polls tell him that he takes more votes from the Democrats than from the Republicans. He is a trojan horse candidate. Not only that, he is as rich as Midas and he isn't interested at all in John Edwards "class warfare" talk. He will wait to see if Edwards is the candidate before he announces an "independent" run. Beware of these third-Party candidates.

[Hoof Hearted]

1. He'll only run if he can have more fun than Fred Thompson. n/t

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

2. Are you basing this on anything aside from the contents of your imagination? n/t

[kentuck]

4. Take it or leave it...

Are you a Bloomberg fan?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Well, the "centrists" will finally find a real home.

And, maybe, just maybe, the Democrats will seek the votes of progressives for a change.

[sandnsea]

5. I'll take Edwards over Bloomberg

I think it would give Americans a real opportunity to decide what they want. The people, business, or war mongering religious nutballs.

[OHdem10]

6. Are you saying he simply wants to insure a GOP Win.

I know it sounds strange. Everyone seems to think he would
hurt Republicans.

I have maintained all along he could be the one who hurts Democrats.
Since he has been a Democrat all his life, except long enough
to get the Mayorship of NYC. He knows in spades how to talk
Democratic.

This was Ronald Regan's Secret Weapon. Regan had been a Democrat
for the greater part of his life. He had been a UNion Leader.
He knew how to talk in such a way to make Democrats see him
as harmless. Greatest Political Weapon ever.

I think most of us know what Regan did for the country.

If Bloomberg has a problem with Edwards then he has a problem
with rank and file Independents. I ask where does he think
or who does he think will vote for him.

Watch and listen carefully to Bloomberg. Insist that he have
a platform and the issues and his reccommendation for a fiz.

I still say the problem is not the Presidency.
GWB pushed and got away with stuff because the GOP in Congress
(House and Senate) permitted him to do it.
The divsion in the Country is caused by Congress not the Presidency.

A strong Congress can stop a President if they so will.

Third party is not the answer to the divisivness.

[aquart]

7. No billionare is going to coerce me into voting his way. EVER.

I don't give a shit what Bloomberg wants or plans. HOW DARE HE PULL THIS?

[dkf]

23. Both Edwards and Bloomberg have more $ than they can spend in a lifetime.

Edwards is working for a hedged fund for goodness sakes. Have you SEEN the kind of $ those guys are making?

[aquart]

26. Uh, the amounts are NOT comparable.

Seriously, are you kidding?

[blogslut]

8. Bloomberg kinda scares me

Because he seems sane. Hopefully, all he will do is Perot the vote.

[smokey nj]

24. He's the kinder, gentler Rudy Giuliani.

[sellitman]

9. Gee, he sounds like Nader.

He too seems to take greater joy in fucking up the Democrats.
Maybe they can run together and assure a Conservative Supreme Court forever.
:mad:

[TwilightGardener]

10. This is nuts. He's not out to get John Edwards.

John Edwards has a pretty slim chance of getting the nomination, anyway--why spend at least a year of work and planning and scheming just to defeat one candidate who probably won't win? Is it so crazy to believe that maybe Bloomberg just thinks he's the man for the job? Same as the other candidates in either party? Boring, but probably true.

[kentuck]

11. I haven't seen him give many speeches about ...

healthcare for Americans or rolling back the taxcuts for the wealthy, have you?

[TwilightGardener]

12. I haven't heard many of his speeches, but from what I have read

and heard so far he's got a pretty good attitude towards the less fortunate, for a rich guy. But then, Edwards is a rich guy, too--once you're well into the millions, there's not much difference between you and a guy who has a few billion, really. And no one here seems to hold it against Edwards for being obscenely rich.

[kentuck]

13. The only difference...

Edwards has spoken up about healthcare and corporate greed. Show me one speech where Bloomberg has spoken out on these subjects and I might change my mind?

[TwilightGardener]

14. Well, I don't know enough about him to know what most his

specific policies and positions are. I suppose we'll find out if he runs. All the same, I don't find him menacing or particularly obnoxious in his wealth. I like his news company, for example-- as good as McClatchy for being informative and unbiased. He could have made Bloomberg News into another Fox or WSJ right-wing propaganda outlet, but he didn't. I respect that. I won't judge until I see how he campaigns.

[kentuck]

15. I agree with your sigline...

:-)

[Sadie5]

17. Corporate greed

More like pigs at the trough. Edwards has been outspoken from the start, where the others have either not talked about the matter of taxes or have simply given half answers. The country cannot take another 4 years of a rich business man who cares for corporations more that the people.

[CK_John]

16. Bloomberg will only run if he feels he can win. Nothing more, nothing less. He also will

be able to discuss problems and present some solutions because he will not have a thousand voices asking about his IWR vote or what he said in high school. Everything people care about except us fools. Things like no oil in 10yrs, 5.99 gas this summer, worldwide depression, new forms of energy, and a scientific respect for research.

[kentuck]

18. What about another taxcut for the wealthy?

Could he support that idea?

[CK_John]

19. Tax policy will not be very high on the list much bigger fish to fry. n/t

[kentuck]

20. Bigger fish to fry?

Than robbing our country of our future by giving the entire wealth of the nation to the wealthy in taxcuts and then charging everything to the children and grandchildren? Bigger fish to fry?? Pray tell, what?

[CK_John]

21. Answered in previous post, but here is a repeat.

Things like no oil in 10yrs, 5.99 gas this summer, worldwide depression, new forms of energy, and a scientific respect for research.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Read this:

Bipartisan Zombies

by digby


It was inevitable. I wrote about it right after the 2006 election --- as soon as the Republicans lost power, I knew the gasbags would insist that it's time to let bygones be bygones and meet the Republicans halfway in the spirit of a new beginning. GOP politicians have driven the debt sky-high and altered the government so as to be nearly unrecognizable, so logically the Democrats need to extend the hand of conciliation and move to meet them in the middle --- the middle now being so far right, it isn't even fully visible anymore.

Today we have none other than the centrist drivel king, David Broder, reporting that a group of useless meddlers, most of whom who were last seen repeatedly stabbing Bill Clinton in the back, are rising from their crypts to demand that the candidates all promise to appoint a "unity" government and govern from the the center --- or else they will back an independent Bloomberg bid.

Boren said the meeting is being announced in advance of Thursday's Iowa caucuses "because we don't want anyone to think this was a response to any particular candidate or candidates." He said the nation needs a "government of national unity" to overcome its partisan divisions in a time of national challenge he likened to that faced by Great Britain during World War II.

"Electing a president based solely on the platform or promises of one party is not adequate for this time," Boren said. "Until you end the polarization and have bipartisanship, nothing else matters, because one party simply will block the other from acting."



Except the one party is called the Republican Party. When was the last time the Democrats blocked anything?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/bipartisan-zombies-by-digby-it-was.html

[snowbear]

25. Kentuck -- Where on earth did you get that it was Edwards he's concerned with?

Did you see Biden today on CNN's Late Edition?

This group will activate and fund a "Unity '08" ticket if HRC gets the nod.

Nader, on his Hardball appearance, sounds as if he also plans to jump in if anyone but Edwards gets the Democratic nomination.

This is going to be an insane election year..