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New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg's take on all things Irish

By
Niall O'Dowd,
IrishCentral.com Publisher

Published Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 10:38 AM
Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 6:07 PM

 

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Mayor Bloomberg speaks to IrishCentral Publisher Niall O'Dowd
Photo by Nuala Purcell

The Irish Voice endorses Mike Bloomberg for Mayor... Click here

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg sat down with IrishCentral publisher Niall O’Dowd for an hour-long interview at O’Neill’s Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan on last Wednesday, June 17.

Little wonder, because an opinion poll that morning had showed him with a large lead in the latest mayoral race polling.

But the mayor is clearly leaving little to chance in an unpredictable year with an uncertain economy. Politicians everywhere are struggling against a strong tide of voter anger at how the economy has plummeted.

Bloomberg knows better than most that he is still identified as a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic town, and that voters could still send a strong message in the November election against the incumbent if they so choose.

Blessedly, he is still a politician who listens to questions, doesn’t come out with rote answers and genuinely appears to think through answers, unlike so many of his counterparts. It made for a lively discussion with the IrishVoice, and one that he clearly relished.

In the end Michael Bloomberg may be the best argument for money in politics. He clearly outshines the machine politicians who make up New York’s core and who make few decisions that do not pander to the mythical base. Bloomberg’s independence allows him to think otherwise.

We began our interview talking about the latest poll numbers.

N’OD: Good news this morning on the opinion poll.

MB: Yes, but the only poll that matters is November 3, I might point out. There’s been a lot of people who were guaranteed to win, who never got there, so it’s a good lesson for all of us.

Mayor Bloomberg looks at the the latest issues of Irish America magazine and the Irish Voice.

Someone said to me the other day, ‘Would you be active and do things in your third term?’ and I said ‘Look, I thought my second term was going to be my last term, and we did more in the second term than in the first term. People expect you to do it.

Keep in mind, I’m a workaholic. I haven’t had a vacation in seven years. But it isn’t because I couldn’t take one.

The fact of the matter is I like going to work every day. I even liked going to work the day I knew I was going to get fired from Salomon Brothers. As long as you’re healthy how can you have a bad day?

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