Bloomberg Bows Out

Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to abandon what must be his last chance to run for president is disappointing to The New York Sun, and no doubt to many others. Even though the ex-mayor is well to our left on almost every matter, we’ve issued more editorials urging him to run than any newspaper. We thought it would be good for him, the country, the Democrats — and the Republicans.One move for Mr. Bloomberg would have been to run as an independent. The advantage, which we marked in 2016, is that Hizzoner would likely have drained some votes away from Secretary Clinton, helping Donald Trump. Mr. Bloomberg told us that he didn’t see a way to get past the Electoral College. Nor, even were he to deny the two parties a majority, past the House of Representatives.In the event, Mr. Trump gained the presidency without Mr. Bloomberg’s help. There has been no shortage of billionaires complaining about Mr. Trump. Give the President credit, though, for being the only member of the ultra rich who cared enough to take a risk against Mrs. Clinton. He faced the same hurdles in the Electoral College as everyone else, but he found a strategy to get past them.Mr. Bloomberg running as a Democrat this year would have been a fine idea, too. Our guess is that he — by far the richest man to have come down with the presidential itch — could, and would, have bucked up the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, one of the great wings of any party. This time Mr. Bloomberg was blaming not the Electoral College but the primary system.Our guess is that Mr. Bloomberg just figured the time for a (relatively) conservative Democrat has gone by the boards. That may say more about the Democrats than Mr. Bloomberg. As a political analyst, after all, he is no slouch. His three wins as mayor in New York City were a genuine achievement. New Yorkers have gained a better appreciation of him in the years of downward spiral under his successor.In standing down, Mr. Bloomberg issued on his own editorial page a dispatch in which he vowed to spend the “weeks and months” ahead “diving” into “turning around our country.” He said he will “continue supporting candidates” who can lead on climate change, gun violence, education, health, and voting rights. He’s capable of enormous impact, as he proved in the House races last year.There’s still a bit of talk, if only that, around town that the ex-mayor is hoping the Democratic primaries will throw the choice to the convention. Given what he’s done for the House, he might have a chance in such a deadlock. Don’t bet on it, though. Mr. Bloomberg has had four chances to run for president and either didn’t see it or didn’t want to go all in. The hard fact is that fortune favors the brave over the rational.

Bloomberg Bows Out

Bloomberg Bows Out

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