Home
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In 2007, two well-known figures on the Northeast political landscape dropped their Republican party affiliation and became Independents with a capital "I''. One was New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the other former U.S. Senator Lincoln D. Chafee.
On Thursday, Bloomberg is headed this way to endorse Chafee's bid to become Rhode Island's next governor.
A statement issued by the Chafee campaign said: "Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, will travel to Rhode Island Thursday to deliver an endorsement to independent gubernatorial candidate Lincoln Chafee. They will make joint appearances in Warwick and Providence between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM, with details to be announced on Wednesday.''
Bloomberg has endorsed approximately a dozen candidates around the country this election cycle, splitting his support between high-profile Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and lesser-known Republicans such as incumbent Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., according to the Washington-based, online political report known as "The Hill.
A one-time Democrat, Bloomberg won his first term as New York mayor in 2001 as a Republican and then shed his party affiliation six years later and became an Independent.
In a mid-August interview with National Public Radio, he said he is doing what he can to support candidates with whom he shares common ground, regardless of their party.
"Since I've been one of everything in my career at one time or another, I don't think that party matters," he said in that interview. "What you want are people who are independent in their views. That they don't listen to the party bosses. That they listen to the issues. They're smart enough to analyze it. ''
Bloomberg is the founder and owner of Bloomberg LP, the world's leading financial news and information company. Headquartered in New York City, Bloomberg LP has more than 280,000 subscribers and 11,000 employees in more than 135 offices around the world.
His visit here could trigger questions on an issue that still has the local radio talk shows buzzing: Muslim plans to build a community center and mosque near Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan.
Bloomberg, who is Jewish, has vocally defended the mosque project.
"Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion?" Bloomberg said in a speech Aug. 3. "That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here," he said.
Asked where Chafee stood on the proposal, a spokesman said: "Senator Chafee reminds critics of the proposed mosque that freedom of religious expression is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution. In this and all matters, religious tolerance should not become a victim of popular or political passions...no matter how well-intentioned opponents of the mosque may be."
