New York City
mayor Michael Bloomberg lived most of his life as a
Democrat before switching to the GOP when he ran for mayor,
yet he never really fit in with either party. Now
Bloomberg has apparently shaken off those labels and
found the one that suits him, announcing this week that
he has become an independent because it is more in line with
his beliefs and gives him freedom to promote his
agenda for the city.
To understand his
motivation for leaving the GOP, and what it could mean
if the billionaire former CEO were to mount a self-financed
bid for president -- something he denies he
wants to do -- one must look at how Bloomberg
has governed and what he believes.
As mayor he has
both raised taxes and cut them; he has fought with unions
and won their support; he has supported the Iraq war along
with same-sex marriage, abortion rights, gun control,
and stem cell research. There are Republicans and
Democrats in the highest levels of his administration,
and he has given money to candidates of all stripes.
Throughout his
time in office he has cast himself as the adult in a room
full of squabbling children, taking great pride in promoting
a pragmatic, no-nonsense style of leadership. More
recently the mayor's aides and cheerleaders have been
trumpeting this trait as the basis for a possible
presidential campaign.
''He's a manager
who sees himself as a problem solver, that there are
technical and managerial solutions to problems and that
politics shouldn't intrude on this,'' said Doug
Muzzio, professor of public affairs at City University
of New York's Baruch College.
Some observers
try to box him in as a social moderate and fiscal
conservative, but even that doesn't neatly contain all of
his positions.
Despite the
straight-talking image, Bloomberg has been hard to pin down
on one of the most important issues of the presidential
campaign: the Iraq war. During his first term, which
began in 2002, he mostly avoided speaking out on
international issues, but more than once he indicated he
supported the decision to go to war.
In 2004, during a
news conference with first lady Laura Bush in lower
Manhattan, he came to her support on the topic of Iraq,
suggesting that the invasion was justified by the
September 11 attacks.
''Don't forget
that the war started not very many blocks from here,'' he
said.
A year later,
while Bloomberg was running for reelection in this
overwhelmingly Democratic city and doing everything he could
to distance himself from President Bush, he insisted
the issue was about supporting the troops.
When asked at
that time if he felt the president had lied to Americans
about the reasons for going to war, Bloomberg said he didn't
have any idea. At the time, he said, there appeared
''a distinct possibility of weapons of mass
destruction.''
More recently he
has harshly criticized those who advocate pulling out of
Iraq, siding with many Republicans who say it would hurt
troop morale. He has also slammed the proposal put
forth by Sen. Joe Biden, a Democratic candidate for
president, to divide Iraq into three semiautonomous regions
of Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis, saying it would result in
''genocide.''
Speaking with
reporters on Wednesday, Bloomberg did not offer an Iraq
plan but noted that the public ''clearly wants to know how
we're going to move forward and what's the
resolution.''
He has made a
point to befriend both Democrats and Republicans, and he
has crisscrossed party lines to lend his monetary support
and endorsements for campaigns. Last year he helped
Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill win her U.S. Senate
seat, and he also donated $44,600 to California
governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign. He
also contributed money to Bush.
Bloomberg has
said the country's immigration policy is a disgrace and
should be fixed, but he ridicules those who want to deport
illegal immigrants, saying they are the backbone of
the economy.
In the face of
New York City's highest budget surplus in its history,
thanks to soaring tax revenues from Wall Street and real
estate transactions, he has sternly warned there will
be no wild splurging.
He has just
proposed a package of tax cuts, but years ago he raised
property taxes to help repair the city's tattered post-9/11
economy. Those rough days also saw city services pared
down, with higher fines and fees for everything from
marriage licenses to cigarettes.
He has railed
against the National Rifle Association, raising the hackles
of gun owners and conservatives with his second-term crusade
about illegal guns.
During an
interview last year on Fox News, Bloomberg was asked whether
he was at odds with his own party. Back then, that
meant the GOP.
''With which
party?'' Bloomberg shot back. ''I'm not a partisan guy.''
(Sara Kugler, AP)
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