City of Shame

I'm writing this in New York City. This is a city that should be ashamed of itself. We have just witnessed one of the most disgusting displays of egotistical excess ever carried out in my lifetime (I wasn't around when Louis XIV built Versailles). We didn't object to it -- we applauded. I am referring, of course, to Michael Bloomberg's successful reelection campaign.

Nobody really knows exactly how much Bloomberg spent in this election, and because spending of one's own funds is exempt from campaign finance regulation, we'll probably never find out. It was reported that he had spent over $67 million as of two weeks prior to the election. In all likelihood, Bloomberg probably spent around $80 million in this campaign. That would make him the biggest spender in a non-Presidential campaign in U.S. history.

To be sure, Bloomberg is not the first rich guy to spend a ton of money in order to win political office. Corzine and Forrester -- two multi-millionaires -- just both spent mega-bucks in the N.J. gubernatorial race. Schwarzenegger has spent plenty.

The difference is that big political spending like this usually takes place in elections that are hotly-contested. Bloomberg's election was hardly contested at all. The estimates are that Bloomberg out-spent his Democratic opponent, Fernando Ferrer, by a ratio of more than 10 to 1. In fact, Ferrer ran a remarkably anemic campaign and has been pretty much MIA ever since he captured the Democratic nomination. Nobody in New York ever saw a Ferrer TV commercial or heard a Ferrer ad on the radio. I still haven't seen a single Ferrer poster anywhere in the City. When I went to vote yesterday morning, there was nobody handing out Ferrer fliers.

Ferrer's capitulation, however, did nothing to impede Bloomberg's orgy of spending. For weeks now, New Yorkers could not turn on a TV or radio without being bombarded by ads instructing us that Bloomberg is far and away the greatest Mayor New York has ever had, someone whose super-heroism is usually found only in characters wearing a cape. One would think that such greatness would have been self-evident to the voting public, and that it would not have required a expensive advertising blitz to convince New Yorkers to vote for such a remarkable candidate, particularly when, for all intents and purposes, that candidate was unopposed.

So why did Bloomberg find it necessary to spend so much money in an election that was about as competitive as Castro's last campaign? The only answer is sheer egotism. Bloomberg's spending reminds me of some of the stories that came out of the Dennis Koslowski trial -- his campaign was the equivalent of the birthday party with the statue of David that peed out drinks for the guests. Bloomberg didn't just want to win, he wanted to be coronated. He wanted to be able to brag to all of his buddies in the locker room that his margin was bigger than Rudy's.

When I came home from work last night and walked out of the subway, the sidewalk and the street were covered with discarded Bloomberg leaflets. The sight almost made me want to cry. Sanitation workers were going to be sweeping up $80 million and throwing it away. What a waste.

How many homes in New Orleans could be re-built for $80 million? How many victims of the tsunami could you help with $80 million? How many kids around the world died yesterday because they did not have the food or medication that $80 million could buy?

It would be going too far to say that their blood is on Michael Bloomberg's hands. But if we don't even think about it, then their blood is on all of our hands. And that's why I say that this City should be ashamed of itself today.