Now we move on to the general election......but first we have the story of the "X-Factor"
Mayor Bloomberg for President
Michael Bloomberg walked into a room full of press and media. Some of them were local, reporting back to the New York media. But far more were national, the big shots who were looking for what could be the real "game changer" in the race for President. It was the summer of 2007 and so far the field for both parties had been set. The likelihood of a Kennedy vs. Thompson matchup was likely, and the possibility of a moderate on the top of either ticket seemed rare. As Mayor, Bloomberg had derided partisan politics and had often clashed with party leaders. He had been a Democrat until May when he had changed his affiliation to Independent. However in many ways he had not been much of a Democrat. He endorsed John McCain in 2004 and had spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. He was a strong supporter of the War on Terror and was quite hawkish. He also had bad relations with many of the cities unions and had taken a hard line stance in favor of slashing the budget deficit. While he was hard to pin down ideologically, it was clear that Bloomberg thought of himself as a centrist.
But more so than his ideology, it was Bloomberg's personal wealth that made him an attractive candidate. He was a billionaire, and had high levels of name recognition among the Washington insiders that he so despised. For the past year he had been meeting with political big wigs, including DLC founder and CEO Al From. From had left their meeting stating "If he isn't running for President than no one is." However his main political aide, Kevin Sheekey, stated "Mayor Bloomberg is not running for President." Of course that was true at the time, he wasn't running in the summer of 2006. But today would be different.
As Bloomberg approached the microphone he gazed over the crowd. Bringing the mic lower, he quipped "I guess they didn't know I was 5'7"." The room laughed. "Everyone does know!" Bloomberg's speech was nothing special, but like so many other candidates that was the point. Special meant risky, and risk was not going to be part of this equation. He spent most of the speech attacking the partisanship in Washington and what he called "the poisonous environment that keeps things from getting done." But the most important part of the speech was what happened at the end: "Because of all these things and more, I have decided that I will run for the Presidency of the United States as an Independent. Thank you all, and may you have a blessed day." Bloomberg waved to the crowd and scurried off of the stage. The X-Factor was in, and there was no turning back.
For the next few months Bloomberg held off on the standard campaign events. Instead he spent that time strengthening his name recognition with voters. Polls showed that his support ranged from 2-20%, and that was simply to all over the place to count on. He made clear that "I'm not running because I disagree with any candidate on the issues. I'm running because we need a legitimate third option, and one that isn't tied to Washington special interests." Bloomberg would go from talk show to talk show, defending his record and rounding up endorsements. By the start of primary season he had already acquired several big one: Former Democratic Senators Sam Nunn and David Boren, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, DNC CEO Al From, and General Anthony Zinni. Outside of From, all of these men were seen as potential VEEP picks. In fact some saw their endorsements as an attempt to get on Bloomberg's short list.
Once the primary season began, Bloomberg hit the campaign trail. He traveled all throughout the country, but focused on states where the primaries were not being held early on. He emphasized that "You're not going to see Joe Kennedy or Fred Thompson here until the summer. I'm here now, because I know that your not just political pawns. Your American citizens and you deserved to be heard all 365 days of the year." The polling numbers of Bloomberg started to solidify around 10%, but he knew that he could do better. If he was going to win this race he would need both parties nominees to be from the political wings, and not the center. He would get his wish, and heading into the summer of 2008 he was in the perfect position to make his move.
