Bloomberg Muses on What Makes a Candidate

Sept. 18, 2008 — -- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't endorse a presidential candidate during his talk as part of Georgetown University's lecture series on Wall Street and the current economic crisis Wednesday afternoon. However, when Georgetown University President John DeGioia shifted the conversation to the presidential campaign, Bloomberg had a few words of wisdom to impart to the candidates.

"Be specific," he recommended. "Tell exactly what you want to do, how to fund it, and how to get Congress to fund it. The candidate [who will win] is who the public decides is the most honest and straightforward."

Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-Independent, said that while it was hard to tell in advance who would be a better president, he did have two criteria.

"I want to look at whether they are intelligent and approach problems rationally."

When asked for federal government solutions on improving the country's economy, he suggested building infrastructure that would stimulate growth, such as public transportation. He cited President Eisenhower's investment in the interstate highway system as an example.

While he may claim to be impartial, he did make two comments that seemed to reflect unfavorably on the Republican ticket.

"We are building infrastructure -- but we are building bridges to nowhere," said Bloomberg, seeming to refer to Gravina Island Bridge, infamously dubbed the "Bridge to Nowhere" by critics who fought the allocation of nearly $400 million in federal funds to connect one island in southeastern Alaska to an airport on a nearby island with 50 residents. The project, a symbol of federal pork-barrel spending, originally was supported and later opposed by GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and has become its own subject of controversy.

Bloomberg also indirectly disagreed with statements made by Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain and Palin that regulatory agencies responsible for overseeing the financial industry were "asleep at the switch."