So Bloomberg was a Republican?

My local news station woke me this morning as it always does (if you’re interested, I listen to Grandy and Andy while I fight the urge to hit the snooze button – yes, that’s Fred “Gopher” Grandy) and I heard the lead story was that Michael Bloomberg had left the Republican Party. I shot straight up in bed! Who knew Bloomberg was a Republican?

That French Press Agency led their story with the headline “Bloomberg deserts Republicans, stirs talk of 2008 run”. Deserts? When was he ever “with” us?

“I have filed papers with the New York City Board of Elections to change my status as a voter and register as unaffiliated with any political party,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

“Although my plans for the future haven’t changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our city,” said Bloomberg, who was elected as a Republican, and is an ex-Democrat.

That’s a pretty murky statement – his non-affiliation now aligns him with no one so he can lead everyone? Lead them where? Into obscurity?

The only reason Bloomberg became a Republican was so he could cash in on Rudy Giuliani’s wave of support after 9-11. I doubt the Wall Street crowd could’ve carried him to victory without the Republican mantle of the previous popular mayor. So who gives a tiny rat’s ass that Mr. Smoking Ban left the Republican Party?

Michael Scherer in the Washington Post described the exit as;

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg abruptly left the Republican Party yesterday, declaring himself free of a “rigid adherence” to ideology and stoking speculation that he will use his multibillion-dollar fortune to mount an independent bid for the White House.

Got news for ya, pal; Michael Bloomberg abruptly left the Republican Party before his right hand reached his side after taking the oath at his inauguration. And to what tenet of Republican ideology did Mr. Bloomberg rigidly adhere? Name one?

But it was cute chasing links in Technorati that proclaimed that this marks the end of the Republican Party – followed by whoo-hoos and assorted other incoherent drivel. Oh, and high hopes for his campaign as President – apparently the nutroots think that if Bloomberg ran it’d drain off Republican voters – from who? (I’d link up some of the nutroots, but it only encourages them to send me dorky threatening email and drives up their traffic)

I will admit, though, a three-way race between Kucinich, Ron Paul and Bloomberg would give me material to last well into my retirement. (I’ve been trying to think of a way to get Ron Paul’s name in one of my posts so I could bump up my traffic some).

Category: Politics