Thursday, November 10, 2005

Shopping at Bloomie's Today's NY Times reports that the Democrats are disconsolate, having now lost four straight mayoral elections to Republicans. Yesterday, the Democratic Party engaged in deep soul-searching in the wake of its embarrassing defeat . . . . It's puzzling that the Times could be so ignorant of what it means to be a Republican in New York.  Just as a Democrat in Texas is a Republican with a different party label, a New York Republican isn't far removed from a Democrat.  In fact, Michael Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat who only became Republican because he faced less opposition on that side of the primary ballot when he sought the nomination for mayor in 2001. Throughout my entire childhood in New York, Jacob Javits was senator, while Nelson Rockefeller was governor.  These men, with their socially liberal attitudes (pro-choice, pro-gay rights), like Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani, would not be considered ideologically pure enough by the Taliban wing of the Republican party.  In fact, "Rockefeller Republican" became a term of opprobrium for labeling such politicians.  These days, it's usually replaced by the acronym RINO, Republican in Name Only. Even so, if, like Bloomberg, you're going to be a Rockefeller Republican in a Democratic city, it helps to have the wealth of a Rockefeller to finance your own campaign. 12:03:42 PM    comment []