ATTABOY, MIKE – AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  We've often chided New York's Mayor Mike Bloomberg here for some of his sillier ideas, but in this latest crisis he was cool, organized, and competent.  And the latest thing he's done warms our hearts – he told the president of the United States to go packing.  From The Hill:

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) said President Obama offered to visit the city in the wake of Hurricane Sandy but Bloomberg told him that everyone has “lots of things to do” instead.

Bloomberg said he didn’t want to “diss” Obama and was flattered by the offer. Obama is scheduled to visit New Jersey on Wednesday, where the hurricane made landfall. The mayor said that trip would represent the whole region.

“What I pointed out to them is we would love to have him, but we have lots of things to do,” Bloomberg said at a press conference. “I’m not trying to diss him. But I know he had planned a trip to New Jersey, and I said that is fine. It represents the whole region. ... He has got a lot of things to do, and I was flattered that he offered to come.”

COMMENT:  What is unspoken here is Obama's arrogance.  Anyone who's ever been in New York during a presidential visit knows that the city is completely disrupted, with traffic patterns changed for security purposes.  The mayor would have had to drop everything to greet the president and take him around.  New York is the heaviest media center in the country...and Obama would have basked in the coverage.

Yet, Obama asked to come.  Bloomberg was gracious, but the message he sent was clear:  We don't need you and won't participate in your campaign. 

So Obama is doing the next best media thing:  He's going to New Jersey to appear with...Chris Christie.  Ah, the bipartisanship, the statesmanship, the phoniness.  Some Republicans are dismayed that Christie agreed, but, as a governor receiving direct federal aid, he was left little choice.  I don't think the visit will have much political effect – it will be forgotten by Tuesday – but I do want to see Obama's heart bleeding for the little people.

October 31, 2012