Scratch Bloomberg’s Surface, Find a Democrat

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Scratch Bloomberg’s Surface, Find a Democrat
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
Published: January 6, 2008

Hundreds of miles from the hustings of New Hampshire lurks a possible presidential candidate who supports gay marriage, abortion rights and stricter regulation of handguns. Who doesn’t mind taxing the rich on their income or big companies on their carbon emissions. Who says that deporting illegal immigrants would destroy the nation’s economy. And who is not necessarily averse to adding more bureaucrats to the government payroll.

That politician — Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor of New York — has spent months laying out his vision for a post-partisan approach to politics that would take the best from left and right. Yet a close reading of the policies Mr. Bloomberg has promoted during his mayoralty suggests that Mr. Bloomberg actually has a lot in common with one party’s leading candidates — the Democrats — and not so much with the other’s. Indeed, on issues like gay marriage and gun control, Mr. Bloomberg stands well to the left of top-tier Democratic candidates like Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama.

Mr. Bloomberg has long coyly denied rumors that he would undertake an independent bid, even as some of his aides have laid the groundwork for one. On Sunday in Oklahoma, Mr. Bloomberg was scheduled to meet with a bipartisan group of elder statesmen to discuss ways of defeating “partisan polarization,” according to organizers, and to urge the creation of a national-unity government. But judged strictly on the issues, it is hard to discern the grounds on which Mr. Bloomberg might midwife a new kind of fusion politics, even if he wants to.

“If you want to place him in the spectrum of American politics, he’s a liberal Democrat on all the major litmus test issues, and he’s a liberal Democrat on taxing and spending,” said Douglas A. Muzzio, a professor at the Baruch College School of Public Affairs. “I don’t see the product differentiation, except for the $4 billion bank account and the aura of the philosopher-king.”

Privately, Mr. Bloomberg’s supporters and advisers say that the mayor’s stances on a few hot-button issues are beside the point. His large personal fortune and ability to self-finance a campaign, they argue, would insulate him from the demands of special-interest groups, allowing him to serve as an honest broker in the White House, much as he has in City Hall. Moreover, Mr. Bloomberg’s appeal to a national electorate could be rooted in broader qualities: His emphasis on accountability in government, openness to private-sector thinking and ability to build consensus on complicated problems....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/nyregion/06bloomberg.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all

[DesertFlower]

1. he's an interesting guy. nt

[David__77]

2. I do not consider banning guns to be a "left-wing" position.

Many leftists oppose a state monopoly on arms.

[Zynx]

3. Liberalism and leftism are sometimes irresponsibly used interchangably.

Liberalism has relatively little in common with leftist populism except some similar stances on economic issues.

[Eric J in MN]

4. Bull. A real Democrat doesn't support the mass arrest of protestors...

...and anyone standing near a protestor, as Mayor Bloomberg did during the 2004 Republican Convention.

A real Democrat wouldn't try to stop protests on the Great Lawn of Central Park with the excuse that protestors hurt the grass.

[virginia mountainman]

5. Curtailing Civil Rights...

Marks him as Repuke....

The arrest of protesters, the hatred of the Bill of Rights...

Are VERY rethug stances..