Bloomberg may face anti-New York bias

[mawilson 2,133]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - He's from New York, an independent and Jewish. If New York

Mayor Michael Bloomberg runs for the White House, he will face those three issues,

any one of which could sink a presidential campaign, experts say.

Bloomberg fueled speculation about an independent run for president when the self-made

billionaire severed ties with the Republican Party on Tuesday and became non-partisan,

though he insists he has no plans to run.

New York City is more liberal and more ethnic than the United States as a whole, and

though economic revival and sympathy after the September 11 attacks have softened

America's view, people remain wary of the Big Apple.

"Certainly historically it has been a problem. Americans are at best ambivalent about

New York," said Thomas Bender, a history professor at New York University.

"Religion may be very important in Bloomberg's case because New York represents

Jewishness to a lot of people and we're still awaiting our first Jewish president," Bender said.

Or, as Bloomberg himself put it in a New York Magazine interview last year: "What chance

does a five-foot-seven (1.70-metre) billionaire Jew who's divorced really have of

becoming president?"

While no independent in the modern era has ever won, the 2008 campaign is loaded with

potential "firsts" with a woman, a black, a Mormon and an Italian-American all doing well in

the polls.

New York candidates have won, or at least white male Protestant ones. Franklin D. Roosevelt

was elected four times.

Still, Bloomberg faces some of the ethnic and anti-New York bias that undermined Al Smith

80 years ago when the Democratic nominee was trounced by Republican Herbert Hoover.

Smith was an accomplished former mayor of New York City and governor of New York state,

but he was an Irish Catholic with a strong accent who looked and sounded unlike mainstream

America.

STEREOTYPES

"Al Smith was in many ways the greatest governor New York ever had. When however the

country got a look at him, he played into the stereotype of the Irish," said Pulitzer Prize-winning

biographer Robert Caro.

"The Jewish issue still exists. But in addition to being a Jewish or Catholic issue, it's a New York

issue. There's a certain wariness that the rest of the country has about New York."

Caro said he was optimistic Bloomberg could overcome any anti-Jewish bias. "It's a

formidable stereotype but not an insurmountable one."

He noted that while voters were mistrustful of a Catholic in 1928, they elected John F. Kennedy

in 1960 when Kennedy actively confronted the issue during the campaign. Irish- and Italian-Americans

no longer face the prejudice of the past.

One leading New York candidate in the race, Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton, has only lived in

the state since 2000. Another, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani who is a leading candidate

on the Republican side, proved that gruff New Yorkers could win over America with his performance

on September 11.

"If Giuliani reverts to his 'nasty man' persona, it might revive latent anti-New York antagonisms,"

said Mike Wallace, chairman of the Gotham Center for New York City History.

"New York's lessened political clout seems more rooted in the capture of the Republican Party by

its right-wing and sunbelt-based faction, which dragged the national political center of gravity to

the right," Wallace said. "A New York candidate who could carry his or her state while mobilizing

moderate Republicans might well become a serious contender."

Source

[no name 1]

Discussed here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74168

Also, apparently he;s NOT running:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6224042.stm

[mawilson 2,133]

Discussed here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74168

Also, apparently he;s NOT running:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6224042.stm

I guess we'll see....

[Alex+R 0]

I was unware there was an anti-New York bias. What's the bias?

Anti-Jewish... it's amazing, but I guess I believe that one.

[mawilson 2,133]

I was unware there was an anti-New York bias. What's the bias?

Didn't you notice how many people here hate New York?

[Alex+R 0]

I was unware there was an anti-New York bias. What's the bias?

Didn't you notice how many people here hate New York?

Seriously? I thought they just didn't want to live there.

[mawilson 2,133]

I was unware there was an anti-New York bias. What's the bias?

Didn't you notice how many people here hate New York?

Seriously? I thought they just didn't want to live there.

And why do you suppose that is?

[Nessa 23]

I'd only like to live in NY if I was really rich.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I was unware there was an anti-New York bias. What's the bias?

Anti-Jewish... it's amazing, but I guess I believe that one.

"Don't you see the rest of the country looks upon New York like we're left-wing, communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers? I think of us that way sometimes and I live here."

[Alex+R 0]

I was unware there was an anti-New York bias. What's the bias?

Didn't you notice how many people here hate New York?

Seriously? I thought they just didn't want to live there.

And why do you suppose that is?

Maybe they don't have enough money?

[Ban Hammer 13,970]

I was unware there was an anti-New York bias. What's the bias?

Didn't you notice how many people here hate New York?

Seriously? I thought they just didn't want to live there.

And why do you suppose that is?

Maybe they don't have enough money?

owww i just got hit in the eye with a silver spoon

[no name 1]

I was unware there was an anti-New York bias. What's the bias?

Anti-Jewish... it's amazing, but I guess I believe that one.

"Don't you see the rest of the country looks upon New York like we're left-wing, communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers? I think of us that way sometimes and I live here."

Who said that?

[Jenn! 918]

"Religion may be very important in Bloomberg's case because New York represents

Jewishness to a lot of people..."

It does? That's definitely not the first thing I think of when I think of NY.

I don't understand how being from NYC would hurt him anymore than being from the south would hurt a candidate (apparently not at all).

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I was unware there was an anti-New York bias. What's the bias?

Anti-Jewish... it's amazing, but I guess I believe that one.

"Don't you see the rest of the country looks upon New York like we're left-wing, communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers? I think of us that way sometimes and I live here."

Who said that?

Woody Allen in Annie Hall

[no name 1]

Who cares what VJ says? I hardly think VJ can be used as a gauge for America's election results. Come on.

Rudy & Hillary are from NY, it's not a big deal.

I hate Bloomberg for other reasons.

Edited June 21, 2007 by devilette