Posted by
Conservative USA on Sunday, October 26, 2008 3:32:38 AM
As conservatives, we strongly believe in the traditional classical liberal principles of balance of power and republicanism, notions which include, among other things, the belief in check and balances to prevent the demagoguery impulses associated with pure democracy (make no mistake, we support a liberal representative democracy or republican democracy). Therefore, it may sound strange that we are supporting New York City Mayor Bloomberg in his intent, now possible after the vote of the City Council, to seek a third term. We would never support the possibility of a president seeking a third term, especially now, with the growing power of the presidency during the 20th Century. At the local level, however, the risks of demagoguery diminish, since the elected official is closer to those who put him/her in office and, thus, is subject to a greater scrutiny and accountability. Therefore, we think that, at the local level, a mayor should be able to seek a third term (but no more than a third term) and ask constituents to decide if he/she deserves to continue on the job.
That’s the philosophical explanation to justify our decision. Now, why do we think Mike Bloomberg deserves to run for a third term? While we, as conservatives, disagree with Mr. Bloomberg in many areas (for instance, on the dignity of unborn human life, judicial philosophy, the definition of marriage, etc.), we do have many agreements on other issues, and, moreover, we think he has done a good job as mayor of New York City. Mr. Bloomberg has continued the legacy of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, keeping New York City the safest largest city in America. We also believe that Mr. Bloomberg steps to protect the environment and make NYC a greener place to live are commendable (although we sometimes disagree with the means employed to that end).
Finally, while many conservatives are troubled by Mr. Bloomberg’s centrist and/or liberal positions in certain social issues, he is clearly the best choice available in NYC to prevent a one hundred per cent liberal takeover of the mayoral office by a liberal Democrat. After all, what is better, to have a centrist, pragmatic fiscal conservative (who, by the way, balanced the city budget) in office, or an extreme liberal with whom we have nothing in common?
Therefore, for the above mentioned reasons, philosophical and practical, we applaud the decision of the New York City Council to let Mayor Bloomberg seek a third term, and, furthermore, we encourage New Yorkers to re-elect Mike Bloomberg in 2009.