Bloomberg Accepts Innovation Award

Despite multiple announcements that he will not run for president, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg continues to act as if he were on the campaign trail. Last week, Bloomberg was awarded the Fred Arditti Innovation Award by CME Group, a commodity futures exchange. Upon receiving the award for “innovation as the essence of leadership," the mayor infused his audience at Chicago's Peninsula Hotel with a call to action, citing the need for leadership in a globalized, highly competitive world. Bloomberg also had plenty of criticism for government's handling of immigration, global warming, and education, accusing the federal government of stopping innovation and wasting money on earmarks. With language typically reserved for political candidates, Bloomberg called on his audience to "hold our elected officials’ feet to the fire" and denounced the exporting of both industries and "intellectual capital" overseas, claiming that the U.S. is losing out in a more competitive world. The New York mayor even advocated term limits on politcians as a solution. His involvement in national issues is rightly puzzling, given his claims that he will not run for president.

Not a Man of the "Times"

Recently there have been rumors that New York's billionaire mayor Michael Blomberg was going to buy the New York Times. The purchase of this would not only include the newspaper The New York Times but also the other major paper the Boston Globe. Bloomberg bluntly denied this rumor by stating, "“I am not a newspaper person (and) I am not going into the newspaper business.” The reason why the New York Times is being considered for sale is because the cost of shares has significantly decreased. Critics believe that Bloomberg is just what the enterprise needs; a privatized business of Bloomberg. The reason for believing that Times Co. is vulnerable is because many different share holders want to take the corporation in different directions and as a result the stock value has plummeted. For now Bloomberg has clearly stated that he has no intentions of merging Bloomberg LP with the traditional Pegasus.

Fierce Fight for Bloomberg Endorsement

While Michael Bloomberg may not be running for president, his recent announcement that he might endorse another candidate has all three major presidential contenders wooing the New York City Mayor for support. The coveted Bloomberg endorsement would bring both money and media attention to the recipient, a fact well noted by McCain, Clinton, and Obama, all of whom have spoken with Bloomberg over the phone since his announcement. While an endorsement of McCain seemed likely at first, since he endorsed Bloomberg's initial campaign for mayor in 2001, the potential for Bloomberg to throw his weight behind Obama has been steadily growing, as the Illinois Senator was the first to contact Bloomberg, asking the mayor to introduce him at a speech on economic policy in New York. During the speech, Obama praised the mayor's "extraordinary leadership" and lauded him as model for overcoming ideological battles to reach solutions, saying that he shares the mayor's "determination to bring this country together to finally make progress for the American people." While Obama argued for stricter government regulation of financial institutions - a trend opposed by Bloomberg - he went on to praise several of Bloomberg's proposals regarding transportation in Manhattan. While Bloomberg has had less interaction with the other candidates, he already has previous ties to both Clinton and McCain, and thus Obama must work harder to build a relationship with the mayor if he wants the endorsement.

Bloomberg is Off The Air

Every week since 2002 Bloomberg had been goiing on the air live on the station WABC. The mayor would discuss an array of topics, including his taste of food as well as personal life. The program, "Live From City hall" aired every nearle every friday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. Recently, however, Bloomberg has not been on partly because the host of the show was fired. John Gambling was let go last week because the station's company cut down on the budget. The new host is curtis Silwa and he says he will approach the show with the nation as a whole in mind. Unfortunately Bloomberg has refused to go on the air with this new host, but would like to continue doing his radio appeareances. The 6 year run is done for now but he will surely find another station that will have him on.

Bloomberg is Out!

As of last week, Bloomberg has announced that he will not enter the 2008 presidential race, but with so much influence and media attention building up over the past few months, it'll be exciting to see if Bloomberg will endorse a current candidate and if so, who. There has been a bit of speculation that Bloomberg might run on the Democratic party ticket, alongside Barack (if the Senator wins the nomination). I say speculation loosely, considering it derives from a comment made by the Deputy Mayor on NY1 (a new York broadcast network, who suggested that Bloomberg run with Obama. It may not be substantial at the moment, but if the idea of a Bloomberg ticket snowballs into the media it might stir up some voter interests. Regardless, who Bloomberg endorses will play a pivotal role in that candidate's campaign. The Independents backing Bloomberg, as well as the support he's gained from his undercover campaign could quite possibly swing a popular vote towards the political left or right and thus have a huge impact on the General Election.

Isn't Running?

Although Bloomberg has constantly claimed that he will not be a presidential candidate he certainly is acting like one. Last Thursday Bloomberg spoke at the World Bank on several issues the nation faces. A key issue that Bloomberg hit on Thursday was the immigration issue. He noted that both McCain and Huckabee have been the two candidates who are in favor of immigration, as well as the current president, "The ones who have stood out interestingly enough are three Republicans: McCain, Huckabee, and President Bush have all been much pro-immigration than the other candidates." This gives the impression that Bloomberg is pro immigration, however, if he were to run would he be taking votes from the republicans or the democrats? This is a vital question that both the democrats and republicans are concern with since it could be a determining factor. Bloomberg remarked that McCain is a candidate, that unlike others, is in favor of illegal immigrants obtaining their citizenship. It must also be noted that recently McCain has had a change of heart and is talking more about border security rather than citizenship for immigrants. This is due to McCain's will to win over the Conservative vote. It is clear that Bloomberg is in favor of immigration. Bloomberg also discussed other issues he feels haven't been addressed enough by the government. Among them was the issue of the environment and global warming. He feels like candidates should focus more on the issues and less on the people's thoughts, "Candidates are doing polls to find out where they stand, rather than doing polls to find out where the public stands." I know, I know, it really seems as if he is in the race because he is doing so many speeches and presentations, but, he is yet to announce. Will he?

Deadline Approaching

As another President's Day comes and goes, it seems that yet another New Yorker may be shut out of the presidential race. First it was Rudy Giuliani, then Senator Clinton's prospects began to weak, and now Mayor Bloomberg's chances at a presidential bid may soon disappear. There is still time for Bloomberg to enter the race - March 5th will be the date to watch, as it is the earliest opportunity for potential independents to petition to be on the ballot; Texas is the first state in the process. Though he again stated that he is not interested in running for president, Bloomberg displayed his continuing "concern" for national issues by speaking out against the tax rebates which will be part of the economic stimulus package that was passed by congress and signed by the president last week. Nevertheless, the potential for Obama and McCain to pick up independent voters is so strong that Bloomberg might be spurned even if he did enter the race. The longer Bloomberg waits, the dimmer his prospects become.