Washington – It was clear that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was enjoying himself Wednesday as he toyed with the news media, taking 20 minutes of questions about New York’s 311 telephone information system at a news conference just a day after he bolted the Republican Party, but offering not a clue about his intentions.
So goes the long tease.
Following in the grand tradition of Hollywood, which painstakingly builds buzz for a summer blockbuster, Bloomberg is leading a field of would-be candidates whose presence on the political stage is either ephemeral or tantalizingly real. Call it the Art of the Noncandidate.
Former Vice President Al Gore hasn’t ruled out another White House bid. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says he will let the country know in November whether he’ll run. Former Sen. Fred Thompson has formed a committee but has not officially joined the race. And Sen. Chuck Hagel invited everyone to Nebraska, only to tell them to return later for an announcement.
Bill Cunningham, Bloomberg’s former communications director, likens it to an act on the old “Ed Sullivan Show”: spinning multiple platters on tall sticks.
“You have to keep the platters wobbling and keep them on the sticks spinning, otherwise the act is over. There is an art to it,” Cunningham said.
Regarding speculation about a President Bloomberg, Cunningham said: “However it started, it’s now out there, growing like a weed.” At the news conference, Bloomberg did nothing to pull the weed.
He smiled broadly as reporters sought increasingly inventive ways to get him to talk about his rumored presidential ambitions. “Could you implement New York’s 311 system at the federal level better than, say, Hillary Clinton?” a reporter asked. Bloom- berg’s answer said a lot about the federal bureaucracy and offered nothing about his plans.
Asked whether he would pledge to serve out his full term as mayor, Bloomberg said it is his “intention” to do so. But then he quickly began a critique of the current crop of national political leaders, who, he said, are not talking about the big issues confronting the nation.
“The more people that run for office, the better,” he said.
Later, he observed that pollsters who include him in presidential surveys are “wasting their time” and then added that he’s “not sure” if the country needs another presidential candidate from New York.
