Miller Calls Bloomberg "Red State Mayor"

City Council Speaker Gifford Miller continued his move towards running against Mayor Bloomberg in 2005, as he manufactured the political soundbite of the week: It "doesn't make any sense to have a red-state mayor running a blue-state city like New York." And, of course, the Democratic attendees at his fundraiser last night raised the roof when they heard that. Miller continued to link the Mayor to President Bush's victory, proving that there's a scapegoat in every corner. Now, Gothamist may have been pissy about the Republican National Convention being held in NYC, but we really don't consider Mayor Bloomberg the reason why President Bush won - we're not even sure if Mayor Bloomberg has ever been to Ohio! That said, it should be interesting to see whether there's any traction in linking Mayor Bloomberg, who seems to actively decline photo ops with more prominent Republicans on the national stage, to the President. But the hook of calling him a "red state mayor" might be fun, though every else about Bloomberg is decidedly blue.

Last night's fundraiser coincided with Miller's 35th birthday; the event raised about a half a million dollars, which is what Mayor Bloomberg probably earns in interest while he sleeps. The NY Times looked at Miller's attempts to make himself mayoral yesterday, and here's Miller's reelection blog.

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By Jen Chung in News on November 30, 2004 8:35 AM

Comments [rss]

thirdparty

I also think of Newsome every time I see Miller's face.

But really, Bloomberg is to the GOP what Zell Miller is to the Democrats (except Bloomy's more useful for the GOP to keep around.)

In that sense, Giff Miller's "red state" line is perfectly fair. Time to make Mayor Mike choose sides (like Zell did in August).

Christina

Mayor Bloomberg has certainly established his bonafide Red State creds by giving and raising tens of millions of dollars for Bush/Cheney and the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. He also let Bush use NYC as a campaign prop, while Bush unconscionably underfunds NYC's anti-terrorism efforts. As for Miller's age, people said the same thing about Gavin Newsome in SF when he was running -- but he's done an outstanding job by bringing new energy to the position. We need new leadership in this city. Miller seems like a good bet to me.

Blike Moomberg

I'd like someone to make a list of all of these "blue" things Bloomberg has done. (The list will be quite short.)

Mike B.

I think it's an excellent point. Why is the GOP in charge of everything? Because the blue states are still willing to consider candidates on their own merits instead of rubber-stamping one party.

Frankly, the time for that has passed. Every Republican in power adds to the strength of the party as a whole, and Democrats can't afford to let that continue to happen. Every Republican, even the liberal ones, has to be a target just by virtue of being a Republican.

In this case we have a bonus -- the guy's a jerk and he's doing a mediocre job. Let's boot his ass.

daybird

Bloomberg IS a red state type...paternal, preachy, uptight, angry.

He needs to go. There needs to be a legit dem candidate.

Todd W.

Everytime Miller tries to be an attack dog, he ends up sounding like a yipping chihuahua. That baby face really works against him. Of course, looks and youth are no indicator of intelligence, but his critiques of the mayor are pretty weak, too. If anything, the mayor is too blue-state to meet his yearly Republican membership requirements.

Dirk

Don't you think MIller is a bit young to be mayor? I have some serious qualms about voting for a 36 y.o. to run NYC (no offense to the thirtysomethings out there).

D

I'm no fan of Bloomberg's, but Miller's statement was ridiculous. I'm liberal and would never stand for a Republican candidate in a Rebulican majority-Republican city calling a Democratic mayor a "blue-state mayor running a red-state city." Sure, Miller's statement made headliens, but if this is the tone the election is going to take, we're in trouble.