The Bloomberg Model: independent voters make the difference

Whether Mayor Bloomberg's "people" are floating the idea, or the media is looking to "sell papers", or the US business class sees a favorable opportunity for future political involvement, the wires are still buzzing with the question "Will Michael Bloomberg run for President in '08?" And implicit in that question, because of who he is and the state of the Dems and Repubs these days, is "Will he run as an independent?"

The most recent commentary includes a lengthy insider report by John Heilemann in New York Magazine, and this article by Dick Polman in the Philadelphia Inquirer which reminds us of all the speculation over the past year... The New York Sun ran an article by Jim Geraghty about the topic which was commented on in the National Review blog TKS...

Just last week The Hankster linked articles in the American Spectator and Rolling Stone on the topic, and just before the November election, veteran independent consultant and New York Independence Party campaign manager for Bloomberg's 2001 and 2005 New York City mayoral runs told the Massachusetts Lowell Sun's Rebecca Fater "Bloomberg didn't just (appeal to Independents) in the sense of saying, 'There are a million Independents in New York and I'm your candidate.' He built a coalition that made a very clear statement to the public that he was going outside the box." Salit said an Independent candidate needs to prove to the populace that the campaign isn't just about himself or herself: It's about improving the political climate and quality of life for voters.

In fact, a rather large oversight in most if not all of the current commentary is the role that independent voters played in the so-called "Bloomberg Model".

Any successful bid for the presidency in 2008 will depend on the connection that a potential candidate makes to independent voters, whether that candidate is running on a major or minor party line or as an out-of-the-box independent. Independent voters can participate in this process as who we are without being categorized by partisan or ideological forces. That was a major element of the Bloomberg Model. In New York, endless hours of phone work and doorknocking and outreach to ordinary voters, in coalition with Michael Bloomberg's campaign, resulted in his margin of victory in 2001. And again in 2005, this expanded coalition of the Bloomberg campaign along with independents and the Coalition of Outsiders (Black and Latino Dem community leaders throughout the City who led a march out of the Democratic Party with the charge of "Don't take us for granted!") known as the Black and independent alliance, re-elected the Mayor on independent terms. That was the Bloomberg Revolution.

What independents do on the ground makes the difference. -NH