Oh, good night nurse, here we go again. In New York City, another closed little circle of officially-denied but officially-fed speculation has been launched about Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who this time is allegedly trying to find a way around term limits to run for a third four-year hitch in 2009. Reports are here and here. This bears the M.O. of the Keep-Him-Relevant unit of municipal government, in the style of the recently-ended Mike-for-president speculation that of course came to naught.
You can see the advantage to Bloomberg. Without this stuff, the stories about the city's disturbing pattern of building accidents, the lack of urban housing, the faltering economy, and the prevailing idea that the Manhattan toll has been defeated on the merits -- just like the ill-considered West Side stadium -- might be all we hear about the administration.
The mayor's spokesman said Bloomberg will be out of office by the end of next year, but hey --how can you let it go at that when somebody else in a nearby office....
Dan Janison
.... is pumping up the b.s. machine? True, Bloomberg did agree the the outrageous idea in the dark days after Sept. 11, 2001 that his predecessor should be allowed to stay on past his term, most un-American-like. Now maybe he can argue that it's an emergency and the city cannot go on without him.
But it does not speak of his more recent positioning. His Honor since issued a whole store-house of comments firmly opposing any change in the term-limit law, a position that has extended throughout his time in office. Like the phantom presidential campaign, which he denied all along -- with varying amounts of wiggle room -- any attempt to cling to the office will prove him a liar off the bat.
Still, some don't give up: At a John McCain appearance in Bay Ridge last week, Deputy Mayor for Further Speculation Kevin Sheekey was telling more than one of our witnesses that any ticket with Bloomberg as a vice-presidential candidate would win. But as far as anyone outside Mike's speculation markets can tell, that's not happening.
Also out of Manhattan: The Daily News has a story on Silda Wall's struggles one month after her husband traded his label as New York governor for that of Client Number Nine. Her sister's husband is dying, adding to the family pain.
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