Bloomberg
by Ryan Sager
Mon, 27 Aug 2007 at 3:43 PM
updated Mon, 27 Aug 2007 at 3:52 PM
Fred Siegel has a great post up at Commentary's blog, Contentions, about all the hype over the idea of a Michael Bloomberg candidacy for president. (In particular, he's responding to this David Broder column.)
Mr. Siegel basic point is that, despite all the hype, Mr. Bloomberg has been quite a lackluster mayor. Among his lack of accomplishments one might count: constant subway shutdowns, constant brownouts, a major school-bus snafu, and — some might add — banning cigarettes and transfats.
His two most serious failures, however, are failing to reform New York City's public schools, and — by far the most glaring — presiding over six years (and counting) of deadlock at Ground Zero. Certainly, authority over Ground Zero is complex. Governor Pataki and Spitzer, the Port Authority, and others share blame for the lack of progress. But Mr. Bloomberg has been absent on the issue from Day One, spending his time instead trying to build a ridiculous stadium on the West Side and trying to bring the Olympics (which no New Yorker wants in the city) to the city.
Just because Mr. Bloomberg is ideologically quirky in a way that appeals to certain centrist columnists doesn't mean he's a leader or that he has much of a record as mayor on which to run.
Related Topics: General Election
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