The endorsement is a welcome lift for the President, who is trailing his
Republican opponent among independent voters by double-digit margins. Mr
Bloomberg did not endorse a candidate in 2008 but after indicating that he
was prepared to pick a side this year both campaigns assiduously courted his
vote.
Mr Romney met with the outspoken mayor, whose share of the national spotlight
is larger than most governors or members of Congress, for breakfast in New
York in the spring while both Mr Obama and Vice-President Biden have invited
him to play golf.
His endorsement of Mr Obama was not without criticism and he said the
President had failed to build “a coalition of coalition of centrists,
which doomed hope for any real progress on illegal guns, immigration, tax
reform, job creation and deficit reduction”.
However, he said Mr Romney had abandoned his previous “sensible positions”
as he tacked to the Right in order to win the Republican party’s
presidential nomination.
Mr Bloomberg also urged both men to give more specifics about how they would
revive the economy without adding to America’s federal deficit.
Rupert Murdoch, a close friend and supporter of Mr Bloomberg’s, claimed in
2010 that the mayor had described Mr Obama as the most “arrogant man”
he had ever met. The Mayor did not deny making the comment.
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