Bloomberg's Campaign Already In High Consulting Gear

Michael Bloomberg is claiming that it isn't time to campaign yet, but he is certainly doing everything it takes to crush any competition to his re-election bid. Besides his little Google ad floating around, he is positioning himself so that no one else can rely on New York City consulting firms. How so you ask? Well, he's aiming to put them all in his multi-million dollar basket, including Democrats.

From PolitickerNY:

Yes, the mayor spent tens of millions of dollars in his past two campaigns, much of it on high-priced political talent. But there were still plenty of New York Democrats who simply wouldn’t go there. He was a Republican, and, well, they weren’t.

But the mayor has since registered as an independent (the better to market the idea of a possible bid for president last year). And now, with the inconvenient party label removed from around his neck—and with the ability, as always, to deliver a massive payday to anyone who comes along for the ride—there’s no longer anything stopping even the most pure-pedigreed Democratic consultants from signing up.

Take Howard Wolfson, whose former bosses include Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, New York’s Democratic Party and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He’s on board. Hank Sheinkopf, the bare-knuckled Democratic consultant who helped elect New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson to citywide office in 2001 and was expected to rejoin him again this year, has just been acquired by Mr. Bloomberg too.

“He could just about put every consultant in the country on retainer,” said consultant Jerry Skurnik.

I would love for Mr. Bloomberg to explain how this isn't an argument for truly clean elections in New York. On that note, I am confident that at least one of those consultants will come up with an idea, how could they not, there are so many of them.

And shame on the Democrats that are willing to be put on retainer. He may not be a Republican strictly by the letter, but we certainly know that he tried courting them in order to be put higher on the ballot. Of course, what makes it an easy pill to swallow is that he isn't in the Democrat/Republican game anyways. If there were a party for the Mayor, it'd be the party of power-hungry plutocrats.