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December 30, 2007
Who's with Bloomberg? (updated)
Today's Washington Post contains an eyebrow-raising story by David Broder (which, as I write this, Bob Schieffer is also mentioning on CBS) about a bipartisan group that will meet at the University of Oklahoma next week, to discuss the possibility of an independent candidacy.
At the head of the table, as it were, is New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a former Democrat, and a former Republican, and now an independent. Other names that we've seen circulated before in terms of a bipartisan candidacy (such as that sought by Unity08): former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, a socially conservative Democrat who has worked in earnest to reduce global nuclear armaments; former New Jersey Governor and EPA chief Christie Todd Whitman; and former Sen. David Boren, who is now president of the host university.
Interestingly, a Chattanooga area former politician was also among those named: former Congressman, U.S. Senator, and Republican Party chair Bill Brock — father of Oscar Brock, who recently and unsuccessfully ran for Ward Crutchfield's former state Senate seat. It is no small indicator that a former national party chair is among those seeking an alternative to the "hyperpartisanship" now sensed in American presidential politics. (New ticket idea: Obama/Brock, or Brock/Obama — for purely pun purposes, of course.)
Oh, and don't forget Chuck Hagel, a moderate Republican senator from Nebraska, whose name has been floated before as a potential Bloomberg running mate. If the 2 major parties end up nominating polarizing or ineffective candidates, this Oklahoma meeting could be the start of one of the biggest political stories of 2008. Go check out the rest of the names.
Hat tip: Political Wire
See also this analysis by Political Insider.
Presidential Elections | By joe lance | 11:15 AM