Bloomberg-Hagel 2008: Third Party Fantasy #9
If we needed confirmation that silly season is in full swing, we need look no further than David Broder‘s wistful column this morning about a possible independent bid by a Michael Bloomberg-Chuck Hagel ticket. Aside from the standard “Washington is gridlocked in partisan battle between two equally spent parties” and people are tired of it mantra, there’s no argument presented as to why these guys would be particularly attractive candidates. Nor is there any scenario offered, plausible or otherwise, as to how they could get anywhere close to 270 Electoral votes.
Basically, Bloomberg has money and both of them have, in their non-ideological, non-partisan way, demonstrated “leadership.” But Mitt Romney fits that bill. And one would think John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, Mike Huckabee, and perhaps some other candidates already in the race have had more opportunity to demonstrate leadership than either Bloomberg or Hegel.
But, hey, the punditocracy is already bored with the current crop of candidates, so we have to construct fantasies scenarios that would shake up the race. A fellow can dream, I guess.
UPDATE: Well, Broder has managed to achieve bipartisan consensus, if not in quite the way he had intended.
From the right: Steven Taylor – “Broder Prompts a Question: Does it Get Less Important than the VP Nominee on a Third Party Ticket?”
From the left: Steve Benen – “When silly meets predictable.”
To employ a phrase from one of our favorite people: it is de rigeur to have a good third party bid column every four years. In fact, one could probably come up with a list of things that pundits do every cycle. The names change, but the cliches remain the same…
True. At least it’s not a zero sum game.
And what if a third party candidate did actually win? Would that suddenly change all the incentives, partisanship and venality we see from Congress, the entrenched bureaucracies, the lobbyists, and the media?
Every four years? Broder writes a Tiger Beat-esque love letter to independents every few weeks.