Backs Obama Bloomberg
MR.
BLOOMBERG, A POLITICAL INDEPENDENT IN HIS THIRD TERM LEADING NEW YORK CITY, HAS
BEEN SHARPLY CRITICAL OF MR. OBAMA, A DEMOCRAT, AND MITT ROMNEY, THE
PRESIDENT’S REPUBLICAN RIVAL, SAYING THAT BOTH MEN HAD FAILED TO CANDIDLY
CONFRONT THE PROBLEMS AFFLICTING THE NATION. BUT HE SAID HE HAD DECIDED OVER
THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS THAT MR. OBAMA WAS THE BETTER CANDIDATE TO TACKLE THE
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE THAT HE BELIEVES MIGHT HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE VIOLENT
STORM, WHICH TOOK THE LIVES OF AT LEAST 38 NEW YORKERS AND CAUSED BILLIONS OF
DOLLARS IN DAMAGE.
“THE
DEVASTATION THAT HURRICANE SANDY BROUGHT TO NEW YORK CITY AND MUCH OF THE
NORTHEAST — IN LOST LIVES, LOST HOMES AND LOST BUSINESS — BROUGHT THE STAKES OF
NEXT TUESDAY’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION INTO SHARP RELIEF,” MR. BLOOMBERG WROTE IN
AN EDITORIAL FOR BLOOMBERG VIEW.
“OUR
CLIMATE IS CHANGING,” HE WROTE. “AND WHILE THE INCREASE IN EXTREME WEATHER WE
HAVE EXPERIENCED IN NEW YORK CITY AND AROUND THE WORLD MAY OR MAY NOT BE THE
RESULT OF IT, THE RISK THAT IT MAY BE — GIVEN THE DEVASTATION IT IS WREAKING —
SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO COMPEL ALL ELECTED LEADERS TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION.”
MR.
BLOOMBERG’S ENDORSEMENT IS ANOTHER INDICATION THAT HURRICANE SANDY HAS
INFLUENCED THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. THE STORM AND THE DESTRUCTION IT LEFT IN
ITS WAKE HAVE DOMINATED NEWS COVERAGE, TRANSFIXING THE NATION AND PROMPTING THE
CANDIDATES TO HALT THEIR CAMPAIGNING BRIEFLY.
THE
ANNOUNCEMENT IS ALSO THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF STEPS MR. BLOOMBERG HAS TAKEN IN
A BID TO ASSERT HIS INFLUENCE NATIONALLY AS HIS FINAL TERM AS MAYOR ENTERS ITS
TWILIGHT — AND AFTER HE APPEARS TO HAVE ABANDONED HIS OWN HOPES OF ONE DAY
BECOMING PRESIDENT.
LAST
MONTH, THE MAYOR SAID THAT HE WAS CREATING HIS OWN “SUPER PAC” TO SUPPORT
CANDIDATES FROM EITHER PARTY, AS WELL AS INDEPENDENTS, WHO HE BELIEVES ARE
DEVOTED TO HIS BRAND OF NONIDEOLOGICAL PROBLEM SOLVING, AND HE HAS INCREASINGLY
USED HIS PERSONAL WEALTH AND THE BULLY PULPIT OF HIS OFFICE IN AN EFFORT TO
PERSUADE ELECTED OFFICIALS TO SUPPORT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, GUN CONTROL AND
EDUCATION REFORM.
THE
IMPACT OF MR. BLOOMBERG’S ENDORSEMENT IS UNCLEAR; HIS CITY AND HIS STATE ARE
OVERWHELMINGLY DEMOCRATIC, AND ALTHOUGH HE IS A WELL-KNOWN AND LONG-SERVING
PUBLIC OFFICIAL WHO FREQUENTLY APPEARS IN THE NATIONAL MEDIA, HIS INFLUENCE IS
DIFFICULT TO MEASURE: AN ABC NEWS/WASHINGTON POST POLL CONDUCTED IN DECEMBER
FOUND 30 PERCENT OF AMERICANS HAD A FAVORABLE VIEW OF MR. BLOOMBERG, 26 PERCENT
HAD AN UNFAVORABLE VIEW, AND MANY — 44 PERCENT — HAD NO OPINION OF HIM ONE WAY
OR THE OTHER.
BOTH THE
OBAMA AND ROMNEY CAMPAIGNS HAD AGGRESSIVELY SOUGHT THE MAYOR’S ENDORSEMENT, IN
LARGE PART BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED HE COULD INFLUENCE INDEPENDENT VOTERS AROUND
THE COUNTRY. MR. BLOOMBERG HAD RECENTLY SIGNALED HE WOULD NOT MAKE AN
ENDORSEMENT, TELLING REPORTERS SEVERAL WEEKS AGO THAT HE HAD DECIDED WHOM HE
WOULD VOTE FOR, BUT THAT HE WAS NOT SURE HE WOULD SHARE THAT DECISION WITH THE
PUBLIC.
JOHN
WEAVER, A PROMINENT REPUBLICAN POLITICAL STRATEGIST, SAID THE TIMING OF THE
MAYOR’S ENDORSEMENT WAS NOTABLE.
“HIS
ANNOUNCEMENT IS SANDWICHED BETWEEN THIS HORRIFIC CALAMITY AND THE PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION,” HE NOTED. “SO THE TIMING COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE SIGNIFICANT FOR
HIM AND HIS VIEWS.”
STEVE
MCMAHON, A VETERAN DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, SAID HE BELIEVED THAT NOW THAT MR.
BLOOMBERG HAD COME TO TERMS WITH NOT RUNNING FOR THE PRESIDENCY, HE WAS
INTERESTED IN CEMENTING HIS POLITICAL LEGACY.
“MANY
POLITICIANS REACH THE POINT IN THEIR CAREERS WHERE THEY HAVE BUILT UP
CONSIDERABLE POLITICAL EQUITY AND THE ONLY QUESTION IS HOW THEY USE IT TO MAKE
A DIFFERENCE,” HE SAID. “IN ENDORSING PRESIDENT OBAMA, THE MAYOR SEEMS TO HAVE
DECIDED TO USE SOME OF HIS EQUITY.”
EVEN
BEFORE THE HURRICANE STRUCK, MR. BLOOMBERG HAD BEEN CONCERNED ABOUT CLIMATE
CHANGE. HE IS THE CHAIRMAN OF AN ORGANIZATION CALLED C40, A NETWORK OF CITIES
SEEKING TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE-GAS EMISSIONS.
YET
UNTIL THE STORM, CLIMATE CHANGE HAD NOT BEEN MUCH OF AN ISSUE IN THE
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. THE TOPIC DID NOT COME UP DURING THE THREE PRESIDENTIAL
DEBATES, AND THE CANDIDATES HAVE NOT PROVIDED DETAILED LEGISLATIVE OR
REGULATORY PLANS OUTLINING THEIR STANCES ON THE ISSUE.
SINCE
THE HURRICANE, A NUMBER OF ELECTED OFFICIALS HAVE COME FORWARD, CHIEFLY IN NEW
YORK, TO SAY THAT THEY HAVE CONCLUDED THE PLANET IS UNDERGOING CLIMATE CHANGE,
THAT HUGE STORMS ARE NO LONGER FREAK OCCURRENCES BUT EXPECTABLE REALITY, AND
THAT PUBLIC POLICY MUST BEGIN TO PREPARE FOR THE IMPACT.
GOV.
ANDREW M. CUOMO OF NEW YORK SAID TUESDAY, “ANYONE WHO SAYS THERE IS NOT A
DRAMATIC CHANGE IN WEATHER PATTERNS I THINK IS DENYING REALITY.” SENATOR
CHARLES E. SCHUMER, DEMOCRAT OF NEW YORK, SAID WEDNESDAY, “WE’RE GOING TO PAY A
PRICE FOR THE CHANGE IN CLIMATE.” AND REPRESENTATIVE JERROLD NADLER, DEMOCRAT
OF MANHATTAN, ECHOED THE CONSENSUS OF LOCAL OFFICIALS ON THURSDAY, SAYING
SIMPLY, “THERE WILL BE A STORM OF THIS MAGNITUDE AGAIN.”
