Beltway to New York: Forget V.P. Bloomberg

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By Azi Paybarah

May 23, 2008 | 11:40 a.m.

Doug Schoen, who worked on Michael Bloomberg's mayoral campaigns, is still making the case for him to be the running mate on someone's ticket. But yesterday on Chris Matthews' Hardball, some reporters weren't buying the argument.

Perry Bacon of the Washington Post said, according to a transcript:

"I don't really think it's a balanced ticket, no. I think they're both, pretty liberal records. Obama is going to win New York, he's going to win Illinois. I guess the key thing is if Bloomberg can bring independents, because McCain is very independently minded. Maybe Bloomberg helps there but I don't that necessarily see it as a balancing act for the ticket."

Chris Matthews said, "Mike Bloomberg gets so much echo out of New York. I hear it all the time from New Yorkers."

Then Jeanne Cummings of The Politico added:

"It's absolutely true. There's almost a 'draft-Bloomberg-for-V.P.' [movement] up there. But the upside is he brings strong economic credentials to the ticket which could help Barack Obama. But I think that the downside is when you look at Bloomberg as a partner, if Barack Obama has a problem with working class, white voters, I don't think Bloomberg is the answer to that."