 |
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg gifted Barack Obama with a high-profile endorsement ahead of the 6 November poll.
|
|
|
NEW YORK (EJP) --- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg gifted Barack Obama with a high-profile endorsement following the US President’s speedy reaction to Hurricane Sandy’s hard-hitting effects on the state of New York, as the former Republican statesman hailed the two-term hopeful for taking “immediate action” to secure the safety of his electorate.
In an article for Bloomberg News, the independent mayor allied himself with the incumbent Democrat, as he insisted “the climate is changing”. His departure from his previous party political lines comes at a critical time in Obama’s re-election campaign with America set to go to the polls on November 6, and followed Obama’s decisive response to the natural disaster sweeping the East Coast as he pledged continued resources to help respond to the disastrous aftermath of the hurricane, insisting his “main focus” was on New York and its region, which he said was “really bearing the brunt of this incredible storm”.
Much has been speculated on whether the elections will take place as planned, with much of America still paralysed by the crippling effects of the storms, the worst recorded since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
Addressing his comments to the residents of the affected areas in a speech Wednesday, the president added: “Now that you're safe, your family is safe, but you're trying to figure out where you’re going to stay for the next couple of days, et cetera, it's very important that you know that there is help available to you right now, for example, to find rental housing or to be able to pay for some groceries”.
Committing to reinstating power across the region, the loss of which has had a debilitating affect on local residents and businesses, he added: “what I can promise you is that the federal government will be working as closely as possible with the state and local officials, and we will not quit until this is done”.
“And when you see folks like that respond with strength and resilience, when you see neighbours helping neighbours, then you're reminded about what America is all about. We go through tough times, but we bounce back. And the reason we bounce back is because we look out for one another and we don’t leave anybody behind,” he concluded.
Hinting at the source of his surprise endorsement, in light of the defined party political lines which have traditionally monopolised the US political climate, Bloomberg added that escalating environmental concerns characterised by the hurricane which reached the US via the Caribbean, “should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action”.
Bloomberg significantly did not come out in favour of any candidate standing in the 2008 election, claiming that despite Obama’s insistence that he did not endorse traditional party divides, he “devoted little time and effort to developing and sustaining a coalition of centrists, which doomed hope for any real progress on illegal guns, immigration, tax reforms, job creation and deficit reduction”.
Speaking of the need to address common issues in a landscape of ailing economy and 8% unemployment, the likes of which have never before seen a sitting president re-elected, he said he was unable to come out in support of his former Republican peer Mitt Romney, as rather than embracing a centrist position, “like so many other independents, I have found the past four years to be, in a word, disappointing”.