Bloomberg Champions Moderates in Year of Extremes

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 27, 2010— -- The energized right wing, with its Tea Partiers and conservative candidates, have challenged -- and defeated -- moderate Republicans in primaries nationwide. But that doesn't mean all disgruntled Americans have gone to the Tea Party. The fastest-growing political party in the United States is no party at all. More Americans consider themselves independent rather than Republican or Democrat, according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll.

Enter Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has traversed the country to endorse moderate candidates from both parties, and is an independent. An ad released Tuesday from gubernatorial hopeful Lincoln Chaffee, running as an independent in Rhode Island, includes old footage of President Obama heaping praise on the former senator in March 2008 (back when Chaffee was a Democrat), and closes with a glowing endorsement from Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"That's the kind of leader Linc Chaffee is," Bloomberg's voice intones as footage of the mayor and Chaffee rolls. "His honesty and his integrity, and his willingness to stand up even when it isn't in his own political interest, and tell the truth to the public."

Such endorsements are, to many, evidence that Bloomberg is slowly expanding his political clout. To date, his handpicked candidates span the country and the political centrist spectrum: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Meg Whitman, the GOP gubernatorial candidate in California and former eBay CEO; Democratic gubernatorial candidates Andrew Cuomo in New York; John Hickenlooper in Colorado and Martin O'Malley in Maryland; Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo; Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., running for Senate in the Keystone State; and Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., running for Senate in the Prairie State. Among the roster of endorsements, Chaffee is the only one running as an independent.

Chaffee's acting campaign manager Mike Trainor said Bloomberg's support was especially meaningful because of the similarities between the two politicians: Both have experienced the "trauma" of leaving established parties.