Editorial of The New York Sun October 16, 2019
News that Mayor Bloomberg may yet get into the race for president if Joe Biden fades certainly piques our interest, if no one else’s. Then again, too, for years we’ve been urging His Honor to throw his net worth into the race. The contrast between the success of his mayoralty and the failure of that of his leftist successor could well be a marker of the crossroads the Democrats are approaching.
That Mr. Bloomberg is rethinking his decision to forego a race showed up Monday on CNBC, which is where we caught the news. It reported that the ex-mayor of New York “has indicated to associates” that “Joe Biden’s recent struggles are making him rethink his decision to stay out of the 2020 Democratic primary.” By our lights that would be a great exchange for the Democratic Party.
Certainly Mr. Bloomberg has the fortune for a race (he’s rated above $50 billion). “I think it’s something he wants,” one of Mr. Bloomberg’s allies is quoted by CNBC as saying. It quotes a banker as saying that Mr. Bloomberg is “ like everyone else; they can’t get it out of their system.” CNBC quotes “another New York billionaire” as saying: “Bloomberg is in if Biden is out.”
Whatever else one thinks of Mr. Bloomberg’s views — they are a kiloparsec to our left on many issues — it’s hard to fault him on ethics or judgment, though what judgment possessed him to oppose John Roberts for Chief Justice we’ll never understand. In any event, it’s just hard to imagine him letting himself become trapped in the kind of predicament Mr. Biden is in.
The real question is whether there is anyone who is going to pick up the timbers with which the centrist and winning Democratic platforms have traditionally been constructed. One senses that Mr. Biden is tempted. He seems, though, either too timid, old, muddle-headed, or slow, to rise to the occasion — on taxes, anti-business regulations, or foreign policy. Mr. Bloomberg would have to come out fighting.........To Read More.....
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