Game of Thrones: NYC Mayoral Edition
Apparently, Mike Bloomberg is getting his control freak on about the fact that he only has one more year to run New York City. Which, really, no surprise there. Bloomberg did, after all, change the city’s constitution in 2008 in order to run for a third term, only to support having term limits reinstated in 2010, so that no other mayor will be able to pull that off again. What I’m trying to say is, Bloomberg will probably have a tough time handing over the reins to the city to just anyone.
And, apparently, Bloomberg is so underwhelmed by the current crop of mayoral candidates that he personally asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to consider throwing her hat in the ring. The New York Times reports that “in a phone call confirmed by three people, Mr. Bloomberg encouraged Mrs. Clinton to consider entering the 2013 mayor’s race, trading international diplomacy for municipal management on the grandest scale. She would, he suggested, be a perfect fit.” Unfortunately, Clinton is not interested in the position, or at least, that’s what she’s saying right now. But, probably, she’s really not because it would interfere with running for that other office she says she’s not interested in, President of the United States.
Bloomberg’s request to Clinton reportedly occurred months ago and “remains shrouded in mystery” because it had been presumed that Bloomberg would support “Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, who cleared a path for his third term by backing a change to the city’s term-limit law.” When Ms. Quinn was told about the conversation between Bloomberg and Clinton, she “said, “Really?” as an elevator began to close, then added, “I don’t know anything about that.” The doors then snapped shut.”
Ouch.
Well, this got me thinking. Who else has Bloomberg been reaching out to clandestinely? What puppet does Bloomberg have in mind for his successor? Is NYC mayoral politics a real-life Game of Thrones? Is Bloomberg just like the cunning Tyrion Lannister? Or is that too easy and height-based a comparison? What follows is a totally hypothetical list of potential NYC mayoral candidates.
