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Bloomberg's Riches Discussed in Context of 2008
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 26, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 26, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Sometimes we refer to Mayor Bloomberg as Mayor Bling because with a net worth with $5.5 billion (according to Forbes), why not? And what's frequently mentioned is how his staff is looking into the possibility of Bloomberg running for president - though he denies it all the time - because he would have about $1 billion to spend on a third-party campaign. Former president Bill Clinton mentioned Bloomberg's wealth with respect to needing to reign in campaign finance rules while stumping for his wife in Iowa.
First, Clinton praised him, "Let’s take someone I really admire, the mayor of New York City Mike Bloomberg. I like him, he’s a really good mayor.” But Clinton's admiration stops there: “If he runs for president, he could spend $1 billion and hardly miss it. That’s real money for most of the rest of us. Under the law there are no constraints.”
However, Mayor Bloomberg said, "Statistics show that wealthy people who self-finance don't win with any greater frequency than those who have to go out and raise money from others." The Sun suggests the Mayor's words "he is prepared to parry attacks by spinning his money as a positive factor." In fact, Bloomberg made a point of saying how he's not beholden to big donors and that NYC voters knew he was spending his money in both mayoral elections, which he won.
The Sun also has an editorial that calls the former president out on his remarks, noting examples like John F. Kennedy's campaign being financed by his father and Jon Corzine spending $62.7 million on his Senate campaign. The Sun believes Clinton may be worried that Bloomberg could take away the "electoral votes of New York, California and Florida" from wife Hillary if the mayor should run.
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bill clinton
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election 2008
florida
hillary clinton
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jon corzine
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Mayor Bling
mayor bloomberg
mike bloomberg
new york
new york city
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the sun
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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