Mayor Bloomberg couldn’t get elected dogcatcher now.

His political future, such as it was, is OVER. Sandy has seen to that. And rest assured, Bloomberg had harbored hopes of a presidential run, as an Independent-Democrat in 2016. There was a plausible scenario for him, like this:

Obama wins a second term (hence, the mayor’s late endorsement) The economy continues to tank, because of Obama’s policies. There is total gridlock in Washington for the next two years. The country is a mess. And then, to the rescue comes a very successful businessman, with a track record as a bipartisan mayor of the largest city in the country, offering himself as the solution to the country’s ills. Who else did the Democrats have to offer? Hillary, Biden, Michelle? Nope..Bloomie had a good shot..and he can write his campaign a very large check.

Forty-three years ago, NYC had another bright, charismatic Mayor just aching for higher office. John Vliet Lindsay. We had all the slogans:

“He is fresh, all others are tired.”
“It’s the second toughest job in America!”

And then, in February 1969, it snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed. 42 New Yorkers died, half of them in Queens. Lindsay somehow forgot that Queens was part of NYC, they didn’t see a snowplow for a week in some parts of the borough. Lindsay made a half-hearted attempt for the Democrat WH nomination in 1972, and again, for a senate seat in 1980, but both went nowhere.

If you can’t clear the streets, if you can’t get he trash picked up, well, you’re not quite ready for the keys to the Oval office.

And Mother Nature, in the form of Sandy, has instantly, and very publicly, displayed every one of Bloomberg’s faults, failures, and inadequacies. He has absolutely no chance of ever running for anything ever again. And whereas until this past weekend, he wielded considerable power and influence in NYC, after this week, he will just be ignored, as NYC pols count down the days until he’s gone.

The final ignominy will likely come courtesy of David Letterman..

“Mayor Bloomberg today is sending all the giant size soda cups that he banned in NYC, to Staten Island and Queens, so that the residents can use them to bail out their homes.”

And we can’t forget NY’s governor, Andy Cuomo, also said to harbor WH aspirations. Sandy will end those dreams as well.