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Bloomberg on Why He Won't Endorse

Michael Bloomberg, who has contributed money to Republicans in the State Senate, endorsed local City Council candidates, helped Joe Lieberman

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Michael Bloomberg, who has contributed money to Republicans in the State Senate, endorsed local City Council candidates, helped Joe Lieberman get re-elected and campaigned for a state lawmaker in Virginia, explained today why he doesn’t want to endorse a presidential candidate.

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“Yeah, I’m trying to stay involved and speak out,” Bloomberg said about national politics on John Gambling’s weekly radio show on 77WABC. "The mayor of the city has a bully pulpit to do so and I think has an obligation to do so, not to pick sides.

"I’ve said I would stay out of the presidential, the primary certainly and also the general election because the city has to get help from Washington, regardless the presidential election in November, so I will stay neutral. I don’t have a right to jeopardize the help the city can get for my own personal political views. So, that’s what I’m going to do.

"But speaking out, yeah,” he added.

Ray Rivera has more on Bloomberg’s philosophy of presidential endorsements.

UPDATE: Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser emails:

"As he has said many times in the past, [Bloomberg] gives money to people who can or have helped New York, and to people whose leadership style he admires. As he reminded you yesterday, we created an NYC Card program with wallet cards that we update annually to give a handy reference card to individual from New Yorker who are political donors. That way, when a Congressional candidate from another state or a legislative candidate from outside the City calls to ask for money, the New Yorker being asked for money will have notes at her fingertips so she can ask the candidate how he feels about basing all Homeland Security on actual threats, or raising the charter school cap. The Mayor has given to people on both sides of the aisle in the State Senate because they’ve helped New York and he’s trying to get them to help more. And he’s endorsed candidates like Marty Markowitz for re-election because he admired the way they do their jobs, or they worked together and the Mayor wanted to keep doing that, or both."

Bloomberg on Why He Won't Endorse
Filed Under: Home, Politics, John Gamblin, Michael Bloomberg