“Michael Bloomberg is a solution in search of a problem,” says Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, who is not affiliated with any presidential campaign this year. “There is no demand in the electorate for a third party candidate.”
Of Bloomberg, who has been a Democrat and a Republican and an independent, Castellanos adds, “Usually third party candidacies end up combining the worst, not the best, of both parties. Republicans hate the Democrat in them, and Democrats hate the Republican in them. In that sense, alone do third party candidacies unite America.”
David Carney, another GOP veteran not working on a presidential campaign this year, expressed delight at the possibility of running against the man sometimes referred to as a “nanny” for his proposals to ban all sorts of things from New York life, from sodas larger than 16 ounces to loud headphones to salt to trans fats to displaying, much less smoking, cigarettes in public places.
“Next to Hillary, Bloomberg would be the next most fun liberal to crush,” Carney says. “The difference is while Hillary talks a good game about implementing the Nanny State, it’s just that — talk. She has never done anything successfully on this front, while Bloomberg is the embodiment of the grand Nanny State in words, deed, and action. He walks the walk.”
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