Mayor Bloomberg on Thin Ice with Political Parties

In today's issue of the New York Times, one of the front page stories, entitled "In Reversal, Mayor Now Woos Political Parties," detailed the struggle that Mayor Bloomberg is having obtaining support for running for his next term. The Mayor had previously decided that he would not run for a third term, but has recently changed his mind. The problem that he now has is that he has denounced any party alliance throughout his most recent term. The Bloomberg campaign is trying to render support from three parties in the city, the Republican, Independence, and Working Families Parties. However, Bloomberg has gone against all of these parties during his time in office. The article tells that Mayor Bloomberg ran, and won, under the Republican ticket twice, and then left the party in 2007, claiming himself as an Independent.

Mr. Bloomberg's problem with the Independence Party stemmed from divisions within the party itself. Bloomberg was planning on running for President and, in doing so, sided with one of his major supporters within the Independence Party. It was only when his plans for the Presidency failed that the mayor reached out to the Working Families Party for support, a support that they are not ready or willing to give.

The information presented in this article does not represent Mayor Bloomberg in a very positive light. It portrays him as a politician with only his own needs in mind. This is not something that Americans today want to see, even though it is really what is happening in American politics. This article is a prime example of the media exposing the corruption in politics. Not to say that Mayor Bloomberg is corrupt per say, but more so that he is taking advantage of his position. Bloomberg has a lot of money with which, according to the article, he uses as a bribe for the people from whom he needs support. The problem is that this takes some attention away from all of the good things that the Mayor has done for New York City. He has followed in Guiliani's footsteps as one to clean up the streets and make New York a cleaner, safer place. In his position, it is only human nature to try to take advantage of what you have in order to get to the top.