reality-based educator

Mayor Moneybags is full of shit about the independent, non-partisan thing:

At the same time that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has been traveling the country in recent weeks decrying partisan politics, he has been quietly sending a very different message to the state’s Republican Party: I will continue to support the G.O.P. team.

On June 19, shortly before Mr. Bloomberg announced that he was leaving the Republican Party, he telephoned the state’s most powerful Republican, Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader.

The mayor wanted Mr. Bruno to know the announcement was coming. But Mr. Bloomberg, a major contributor to New York Republicans, also sought to reassure the majority leader that despite the change, he would still back Mr. Bruno and his Republican colleagues in the Senate.

“He will support us now, and as we go forward,” Mr. Bruno said, describing the conversation. “His support is his support.”

The call to Mr. Bruno was one of several conversations Mr. Bloomberg has had with Republicans in New York in recent weeks pledging his political support. And it underscores the tricky territory the mayor has landed in as he positions himself as a newly declared independent.

Mr. Bloomberg is seeking to raise his national profile for what he calls his nonpartisan approach to problem-solving, perhaps in preparation for a presidential bid. But at the same time, he appears determined to maintain his strong ties to Republican leaders in Albany as they try to hang on to their slim majority in the Senate, which they have controlled for more than 40 years.

Mr. Bloomberg’s support for Republican candidates is critical; the mayor has been the biggest individual donor to Senate Republicans, according to state campaign finance records, giving $575,000 since October. He also gave the New York State Republican Committee $175,000 in the same period. (During that time, by contrast, he did not donate to any Democrats in the Legislature.)

Mr. Bloomberg’s involvement in a high-profile partisan fight and his continued alliance with Mr. Bruno, however, could undermine the independent image he is seeking to promote.

Gee, you think?

The next time some fucking two-bit political commentator writes about Moneybags' independent, non-partisan appeal to voters who are fed up with both parties (see David Broder here and here, for example), maybe we all could remind him/her that Bloomberg has not only been the biggest supporter of Republican candidates in NY state in the past, he's STILL bankrolling and supporting them in the hopes they can maintain some statewide power.

Kinda undercuts the little rationale Moneybags had for his campaign in the first place, doesn't it?

NOTE: David Broder's email is davidbroder@washpost.com