New York is taking over

The news that New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has dumped the Republican Party to become an independent opens up a fascinating scenario that I haven’t seen discussed yet: the possibility that we could have a serious three-way race for president among three New Yorkers.

Imagine a ballot where we’d have to choose between New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and current New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.  It’s an amazing scenario to contemplate given that New York’s political clout on the national scene has been dwindling for decades.

Was there ever even a presidential race where two New Yorkers faced off? 1940 maybe?

In any case, after all the talk of power shifting to the Sun Belt, it’s at least curious that New York could hold such sway in a presidential election.

For Connecticut, that can’t be a bad thing. We’re clearly better off with a New York president than another guy from down South, whichever side of the aisle he may hail from.

Personally, I can’t quite grok that I may have to vote for Hillary next year, but time will tell.

Why has Chris Dodd proved a dud?

Frankly, I’m surprised how badly Senator Dodd is faring on the campaign trail.

Every time I’ve run across him over the years — at least a dozen times — he’s proven to be crackerjack smart, funny, enthusiastic and right on the money about almost everything he says.

But out on the Democratic hustings, Sen. Dodd is coming up with … nothing.

Why? Well, it’s mostly that Hillary and Obama are so overwhelming that they drown out everybody else except John Edwards, who’s struggling for breath despite his high profile in 2004. There’s no room for anyone else, especially another New England liberal (Dukakis and Kerry’s campaigns might doom the region’s chances for the White House for a long time to come).

At this point, I can’t imagine that Dodd is running to win. Maybe he’s out there in hopes of becoming secretary of state, or maybe candidates can’t help thinking lightning will strike if they just stay out in the field long enough during the storm. It happens, no doubt. But most people who stay outside in a storm just wind up drenched.