Today's column by Dean David Broder is more of the same. Broder hates partisanship, and loves him some independents.
The essence of the column was that there is room for an independent bid, especially if Sen. Chuck Hagel and Mike Bloomberg join forces. I also believe its a distinct possibility.
On the other hand, it's laughable to suggest that Bloomberg is some kind of post-partisan independent.
On the contrary, while Washington is gridlocked in partisan battle between two equally spent parties, the country is moving rapidly, he thinks, to the conclusion that neither Republicans nor Democrats have the answers to the problems people see.Bloomberg has been a fine Mayor for New York. But in essence, he's run it like a Democrat. He's pro-chice, anti-gun, raised taxes, banned trans fats, etc. etc. The only reason he ran as a Republican is because he wouldn't win a Democratic primary in New York.
The war in Iraq is the prime example, a war on which Hagel was perhaps the first prominent Republican to break with the president. Credit problems that have shaken the mortgage markets and fed the decline in housing add to the sense of anxiety. And the abject failure of Washington to deal with the issue of illegal immigration is fueling further frustration.
The common thread to all these problems, he says, is leadership -- and leadership is precisely what Bloomberg demonstrates every day as mayor of New York, following his success as a financial publisher. "A guy like Bloomberg could have deep credibility as a candidate," Hagel said. "He's a fresh face and a proven leader. It could be he'd release a dynamic that would be an answer for many people."
If Bloomberg was a Democrat (and there are other Mayors with similar characteristics), Broder would dismiss him as another partisan. But because he calls himself an independent, Broder swoons. Like most of the Washington establishment, Broder cares mostly about words, not deeds.
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