Bloomberg Goes to Oklahoma, Muzzio Yawns

"What was never going to happen, is not going to happen,” said political science professor Doug Muzzio of Baruch College. “Coming out of Oklahoma, Michael Bloomberg is where he was before he went to Oklahoma and that is, not running for president.”

He continued, “Obama looks like and feels like a transformational leader” and he is taking voters “where they are not now and where they want to be. Michael Bloomberg, at best, is a transactional leader, and his call is competence. And we’re beyond that. We’re into faith and ecstasy here,” he said, referring to catch phrases made popular by James MacGregor Burns’s 1978 book on leadership.

“What Obama is offering is inspirational leadership. And Mike Bloomberg’s never been a leader. He’s always been, at best, a very competent manager. He’s never been a leader. He’s never inspired and he’s never sought to inspire," said Muzzio.

To counter this notion, I asked Muzzio about Bloomberg's advocacy for the smoking ban, trans-fat ban, taking over city schools? Weren’t those displays of leadership?

“That’s policy stuff," said Muzzio. "And policy, don’t get me wrong, policy stuff is extraordinarily important. It is the nuts and bolts. But there is more to politics than nuts and bolts, it seems."