The Wall Street Journal
If Michael Bloomberg wants to perform a real public service, said Morton Kondracke, he’ll use
his vast wealth to help “fund a robust centrist movement”. Bloomberg has said he’s weighing an
independent presidential run to offer an alternative to Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump or Ted
Cruz, should they be nominated, but what “this deeply polarised country needs” is not a one-off
candidate, but a true “moderate political movement” that lasts beyond 2016 – and might develop
into a real third party. The GOP has moved to the far right and the Democrats have moved to the
far left, while polls find that 40% of voters identify themselves as “moderate”. On issues such as gun
control, climate change, immigration and abortion, most voters support common sense, centrist
positions – not the black-and-white absolutes of the partisans. Bloomberg has little or no chance of
being elected president, because he’s not charismatic and has no national base of support. But he
could use some of his $37 billion to help organise various centrist and anti-polarisation groups into
a real movement. Saving “the American political system from extremism” would be “the best act of
philanthropy I can imagine”.
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