President Mayor Mike

Michael Bloomberg has declared himself an independent, and maybe he'll run for President.

I'm ambivalent about Mayor Mike. I think he's shown that New York City can be governed with both an iron fist and humanity. The previous mayor, Guiliani, only had the iron fist. The one before him, Dinkins, capped an at least 30-year run (with intermittant exceptions by Ed Koch, who was more show biz than substance) of Mayors who turned humanity and seeing the other person's point of view into paralysis and decay.

New York City in 2007 is well-run and safe and friendly. The procurement policy, how things get sold to the city, and who gets to sell them, could use a nice dose of clean air and sunshine, but I'm mostly guessing about that. Basically, life is good here, and Mayor Mike gets a lot of credit for that.

On the other hand, I am married to a teacher, and when you look at things up close like that, Mayor Bloomberg's education policy is completely Republican, and can be said to be exactly like the Republican domestic policy in New Orleans, and the Republican foreign policy in Iraq.

If it ain't broke, break it.

I don't question Bloomberg's motives in running as an independent. However, the net result is a great big valentine to Karl Rove and the Jeb Bush-Dick Cheney 2008 Presidential campaign (another guess).

An independent run by Bloomberg will make it possible for Republicans to win 3-way races in New York, California and Illinois, where it would be impossible for them to win otherwise.