New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg surprisingly announced that he supports Barack Obama in the race for a second term as president. Once Republican, now independent, Bloomberg has his own arguments: Obama’s ideas regarding the climate change, the reason that could be the origin of the terrible hurricane that hit the east coast of the United States are better than those of his rival, Republican Mitt Romney, who has almost never spoken about climate change.
New York Times reports that during the election campaign, the mayor of the most populous city in America has been courted by both candidates. However, as the American publication shows, though Bloomberg is a familiar face who frequently appears in the media, it is difficult to say to what extent is he in the position to influence the vote on November the 6th. One thing is clear, continues New York Times, the Hurricane Sandy that killed over 30 people in New York City influenced the election campaign.
In an editorial for the Bloomberg newspaper, the mayor argued that the extreme weather events in New York and elsewhere in the world could have or couldn’t have been related to climate change, but the possibility that things are really related would have to push all elected leaders to take action.
Bloomberg said: “Over the past four years, President Barack Obama has taken major steps to reduce our carbon consumption, including setting higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks.”
New York was the city most hit by Hurricane Sandy. Bloomberg, who is in his third mayoral term, became mayor for the first time as a Republican and supported, in 2004, George W. Bush for the presidential race, but has not expressed a preference in 2008, when Obama became president.
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is a 70-year-old businessman and politician, the 10th richest person in the U.S. with a fortune estimated at $25 billion. He was a Democrat before becoming mayor of New York, then he won the election as a Republican in 2001 and 2005. He left the Republican Party in 2007 and ran in 2009 as independent on the Republican list. There were speculations that he will seek presidency or will be selected to run as vice-president.
It remains to see whether Bloomberg’s endorsement for Obama will matter. This might be a sign that business owners are not against Obama as it seems at a time when a lot of voters are undecided.
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