| Home Front: Politix | |||
| NYC mayor Bloomberg to call for Gov't of National Unity | |||
| 2007-12-30 | |||
Others who will be at the Jan. 7 session at the University of Oklahoma said that if the likely nominees of the two parties do not pledge to "go beyond tokenism" in building an administration that seeks national consensus, they will be prepared to back Bloomberg or someone else in a third-party campaign for president. The list of attendees suggests the group could muster the financial and political firepower to make the threat of such a candidacy real. Conveners of the meeting include such prominent Democrats as former senators Sam Nunn of Georgia, Charles Robb of Virginia and David Boren of Oklahoma, and former presidential candidate Gary Hart. Republican attendees are to include Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, former party chairman Bill Brock, former Sen. John Danforth of Missouri and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman.
Others who have indicated they plan to attend the one-day session include William Cohen, former Republican senator from Maine and defense secretary in the second Clinton administration; Alan Dixon, former Democratic senator from Illinois; Bob Graham, former Democratic senator from Florida; Jim Leach, former Republican congressman from Iowa; Susan Eisenhower, a political consultant and granddaughter of former President Eisenhower; David Abshire, president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency; and Edward Perkins, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Bloomberg, a former Democrat who was elected mayor of New York as a Republican, left the GOP over the summer to become an independent. While disclaiming any plan to run for president in 2008, he has continued to fuel speculation by traveling widely and speaking out on domestic and international issues. The mayor, a billionaire many times over, presumably could self-finance even a late-starting candidacy. "As mayor, he has seen far too often how hyperpartisanship in Washington has gotten in the way of making progress on a host of issues," said Bloomberg's press secretary, Stu Loeser. "He looks forward to sitting down and discussing this with other leaders." Until plans for the meeting were disclosed, the most concrete public move toward any kind of independent candidacy was by Unity08, a group planning an online nominating convention to pick either an independent candidate or a ticket combining a Republican and a Democrat. The sponsors, an eclectic mix of consultants who have worked for candidates ranging from Democrat Jimmy Carter to Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., have not aligned with a specific prospect. Some people with high-level political and governmental credentials are moving to put muscle behind the new effort. A letter from Nunn and Boren sent to those who plan to attend the Jan. 7 session said "our political system is, at the least, badly bent and many are concluding that it is broken at a time ... America must lead boldly at home and abroad. Partisan polarization is preventing us from uniting to meet the challenges that we must face if we are to prevent further erosion in America's power of leadership and example." At the session, Boren said, participants will try to draft a statement on such issues as the need to "rebuild and reconfigure our military forces" and restoring U.S. credibility in the world. "Today, we are a house divided," the letter said. "We believe that the next president must be able to call for a unity of effort by choosing the best talent available without regard to political party to help lead our nation."
| |||
| Link |
| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| NYC Mayor's Car Carjacked at Fistpoint |
| 2006-10-19 |
| (CBS/AP) NEW YORK A personal employee of Mayor Michael Bloomberg was beaten by thieves who then carjacked the billionaire's car Wednesday morning in New Jersey, authorities said. The employee was driving the gray 2001 Lexus in Hackensack on an errand for the mayor shortly before 9 a.m. when a woman came to the window to ask for money, police said. As he declined and began to roll up the window, a man got into the passenger seat and punched him in the face. Carjacked by fist? I guess that's what happens when you virtually outlaw concealed carry. "They force him out and take off," said Capt. Frank Lomia, of the Hackensack Police Department. The carjackers sped away, driving over a lawn as they made their escape, he said. Grass and dirt still clung to the car when it was recovered about two hours later, abandoned on the side of a road in nearby Fair Lawn. Why did they steal the car - because the driver wouldn't give them enough cash for the by-the-hour motel? Police were looking for the two suspects. Two people matching their description ... and that description was .... "a man and a woman" ... were spotted at a convenience store in the area just before the car was stolen. The mayor's spokesman, Stu Loeser, said Bloomberg "hopes that those who committed this crime are swiftly brought to justice." Bloomberg's employee, Gradimir Bosnjak, was in Hackensack to pick up a colleague. He was not seriously injured, although the mayor called to check on him after the crime. "Everything is fine, thank you," Bosnjak said late Wednesday. |
| Link |
| Home Front: Politix | |
| Bloomberg backs Schumer | |
| 2004-10-30 | |
Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg ditched his party's Senate candidate -- and his own earlier statements -- to endorse Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer on Friday. Asked about the same race on Oct. 5, Bloomberg said: "I've always said that who I vote for is my business. I'll do it in the privacy of the voting booth." But Friday, Bloomberg said without prompting: "Chuck Schumer is up for re-election ... and I will vote for him."
Bloomberg made the about-face during his weekly radio interview on WABC (770-AM). Schumer, he said, "has worked very, very hard for the state and I think the voters in the state should re-elect him." The timing shielded the mayor from facing potentially embarrassing questions about his conflicting statements. He made the latest remarks in the middle of a pre-taped show, free of outside callers, just before a pre-election weekend. Bloomberg's next news conference is expected to be Monday or later. A spokeswoman for Republican Howard Mills called the mayor's move "no surprise" because Bloomberg's transportation commissioner, Iris Weinshall, is married to Schumer. Schumer spokesman Stu Loeser said later that Schumer was "delighted" to win the mayor's vote. I bet he was rolling around on the floor singing 'happy days are here again!' Bloomberg said Schumer "is running against a guy, Howard Mills, a Republican who is a -- I don't know very well, but people say nice things. But Schumer has worked as hard as anybody, and so does Hillary [Clinton], incidentally." When asked a follow-up question about Bush and Schumer, Bloomberg said: "I'm going to vote for people who I think will do the most for New York City." Don't do us any further favours ...please! Where is Rudy when we need him? | |
| Link |