Well, well, well, what do we have here?
Mike Bloomberg and Chuck Hagel [were] dining together last night at the Palm. The New York mayor had a New York strip steak, the Nebraska senator had wild halibut, and each polished off a glass of merlot and mixed berries for dessert. They were deep in conversation for two hours; since both are mulling presidential bids, who was courting whom?
Can you imagine? A Bloomberg/Hagel ticket, or a Hagel/Bloomberg ticket? Be still my heart.
So, who do you think would win in the three-way race?
a) Clinton/Obama
b) Guiliani/McCain
c) Bloomberg/Hagel
Shouldn’t Ed Koch be in there somewhere? What about Steinbrenner or Trump?
Chuck Hagel would be a very formidable candidate.
I hate to say it: Bloomberg/Hagel.
The case can be made that Bloomberg is to the left of Clinton and possibly Obama. Bloomberg is “a longtime Democrat who switched parties in 2001 to run in the less-crowded Republican field” (Reuters). Clinton in contrast was originally a Republican.
Bloomberg/Hagel would be the class of that field.
Money + “outsider” credentials + (perceived centrist credentials*foreign policy/war veteran cred)
=
A very formidable image and message to target the highly concentrated MSM with.
Like James Fallows, I though the independent-minded centrist business candidate running independently would be a 2016 or 2020 phenomenon, but looks like it might be here sooner rather than later.
well, assuming that Bloomberg/Hagel wouldn’t win, who would it hurt more?
I’m assuming they would win. 🙂
But I think it would hurt Giulani more, only because I don’t think McCain would come off well against Hagel.
The wildcard is Clinton’s negatives among the right wing, progressives, and perhaps even “progressive independents” who I’d describe as educated, fairly well-off professionals centered in metros like NYC and its burbs, Boston and its burbs, NOVA, Beltway Maryland, Seattle, etc.
but i am what i consider a truly independent voter.
that is to say, i vote for the person, not the party.
it’s only been the gop of the last 10 years that has forced me to endorse the dems so much.
that being said, if it’s a hagel/bloomberg ticket, i’d be hard pressed to vote for a hillary/obama ticket.
i know, i know, what about the supreme court nominees, etc?
well, i can’t see voting for someone whose policies i disagree with, just on the chance they might nominate a like-minded dem whose policies i also disagree with.
I couldn’t vote for Hagel. I’d be a lot more comfortable with him as President than I would be with any of the other Republicans, but the Dems really need the White House in the worst way.
i was pretty specific about the dem ticket i wouldn’t vote for.
if it was hillary/edwards, or obama/edwards, or edwards/anybody short of dick cheney, i’d consider it.
Could this marginalize the republicans?
I mean, if the official repub nominee gets his hat handed to him in the election, finishing a distant third, what happens? At the very least it would be a thorough rejection of neocon-Bushism, and what would happen to the party’s cash flow in such an aftermath?
If you assume that the congressional trend of 06 continues and the severe beating of the repubs presidentially has inverse coattails for the downticket races, that party really could be left hanging by a thread. I feel like there are a ton of people out there especially in red states who aren’t happy with Bush but don’t like democrats at all, thanks mostly to “tax and spend” “babykiller” “forced gay marriage” type propaganda, but these people might be all too pleased to vote for someone like Hagel, who could easily position himself in the mode of a maverick like McCain in 2000, only more so (outside the repub party, in fact).
I’m torn because I’d like to see the Dems in total control of the govt and that’s more likely sans a strong 3rd party candidate, but on the other hand I’d love to see the current incarnation of the Republican party be consigned to the dustbin of history.
“Be still my heart.” What? Chuck Hagel has voted more than 96% Republican….and you say, “Be still my heart”??
Gee, I must be in the wrong place!
Sure, he SAYS all the right things. And, yes, he at least DID serve in the military and in combat in Viet Nam.
But, President? Or, Vice President? Good heavens!
You must not be as upset as some of us by the Rove-rigging of the elections in 2000 and beyond. Diebold, remember?
Hagel owned ES&S, remember?
Read these:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4230
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm
I’ve been taken in by his smooth-talking at times, too. Slick! Snake oil! Do NOT be fooled….please! (scary)
it’s sarcasm.
I know I’ve mentioned this to you before, but Scoop kills sarcasm dead. It’s a not a bug, it’s a feature. Sad, but true.
I’d honestly LOVE to see a Bloomberg/Hagel ticket do to Giuliani what Nader did to Gore and Dems in 2000: split the Reublican vote so badly that the Dems win handily.
Wouldn’t you?
I’d love it, too. Except I’m not at all sure that that is what would happen.
Just take New York State, for example. Who would win it? I’m not sure.
Well, it would definitely make things interesting…as in Chinese curse (“may you live in interesting times”) interesting…
you should be thankful that he flip-flopped and betrayed his original favorite
i just like to try on different hats.
is that you in the pic? you look good.
you look like a homeless person!
“Gimme a dollar and I’ll throw the sign away!”
i totally forgot about that.
ignore my comment above about considering to vote for him over hillary.
Are y’all aware that Bloomberg has enough money to compete in a national presidential election without recourse to funds from elsewhere!!!???
He can BUY the election.
For real.
Scary.
Plus…on the evidence of his actions as mayor of NYC, he is totally anti-working class.
Totally.
Bottom line, dollars and cents. If you make enough money, you are OK.
If you don’t…GET on the end of that line!!!
His policies…a continuation of those of the Giuliani years…are turning Manhattan, Brooklyn and soon the Bronx into condo developments for the wealthy and their trusted overseers. Working peole are steadily being squeezed out, out OUT, and the eventual upshot of this will be the literal death of theliving culture of New York in a tidal wave of plastic, Disney-fied bullshit.
And he will try to do the same damned thing to America.
Plus…and I must do some homework here, but I believe that my gut reaction will probably stand once the work is done…he is a staunch supporter of Israel, and that damned war will just keep on keeping on in one form or another if he is elected.
Why do I think that?
Not because he is Jewish.
Russ Feingold is Jewish, too and I would have no fears on that matter if we were discussing him. I believe this to be so because of the overwhelming support that middle-class Jewish voters…who are heavily pro-Israel in NYC… gave him in his bids for the mayoralty. I did not follow the campaigns too closely because it was perfectly obvious who was going to win in both cases, but even without being a media addict it was unavoidable to see which way the wind was blowing here.
Further, he is connected to Salomon Brothers, the CIA and 9/11 connections of which are too numerous to detail here.
In short…he is a high-ranking member of the PermaGov (right-wing/free trade/economic imperialist division) as far as I am concerned, and the LAST person that I would want to see in the White House .
Why?
Because he is SMART.
Better the fucked-up fools who are in there now.
This motherfucker actually takes care of business.
BAD business, in my estimation.
Watch.
Cold as ice.
And twice as slippery.
Watch.
AG
You’re staying 5 minutes ahead of the future as usual. Excellent.
eeh gads!
Bloomy/Hagle and multiple Noron offspring!
Booman, why are you torturing us!