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Forget The White House: Bloomberg Wanted Hillary Clinton To Run For Mayor
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 4, 2012
Modified Dec 4, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 4, 2012
Modified Dec 4, 2012
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Yes, Mayor Bloomberg has tacitly supported City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's bid to be mayor next year, but it's not like he love-loves that idea of her mayoralty—at least, that's the conclusion given that he apparently asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for mayor. The NY Times reports, "In a phone call confirmed by three people, Mr. Bloomberg encouraged Mrs. Clinton to consider entering the 2013 mayor’s race, trading international diplomacy for municipal management on the grandest scale. She would, he suggested, be a perfect fit."
The Post adds, "The mayor also made a point of saying how wonderful it was to run the country’s largest city." And who cares that Clinton doesn't even live in NYC? She and Bubba can totally buy a pied a terre here! Anyway, Clinton turned down Bloomberg's suggestion.
The Times suggests this might be a problem for Quinn, considered the frontrunner amongst a crowded field of potential contenders that includes Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, former City Comptroller Bill Thompson, and current City Comptroller John Liu, "Mr. Bloomberg’s overture to the former first lady highlights the level of his anxiety about the current crop of candidates, his eagerness to recruit a replacement who can rival his stature and his determination to become a kingmaker in the political arena he will soon exit."
Then again, as Capital New York's Azi Paybarah points out, "In that regard, the reported call from Bloomberg may at least hand Quinn a response to the argument that she's too close to the mayor, an idea that her primary rivals will be pushing aggressively in the coming months."
Still, this is all about Bloomberg—a Democratic National Committee member tells the Times, "If in fact he did say that to Hillary Clinton, it’s only because he holds the position and therefore regards it as a step up from being president."
Tagged
christine quinn
Election 2013
hillary clinton
mayor bloomberg
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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