Mayor Bloomberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger this
weekend.Photo: WireImage
In this week’s New York, Geoffrey Gray reports that Mayor Bloomberg’s political guru Kevin Sheekey has a new element to his Bloomie-for-president plan: getting California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as a running mate. (This, as Gray points out, is problematic and unconstitutional, as the Governator was not born in the United States.) Sheekey’s been blabbing about it to Gray’s highly placed sources. Today, Daily News reporter Adam Lisberg asked Hizzoner about the issue, point blank. Here’s what the mayor had to say:
“Number one, I had dinner with him on Saturday night. And number two, he couldn’t be vice president. The Constitution is clear. You have to be able to be president to be vice president. I don’t know where that story came from, but the law would not allow it. Incidentally, he’s a great guy. He’d make a great vice president … This guy’s a substantive guy who really is serious about governing, and I think California — he’s going to be term-limited out — California’s going to miss him, because he really has made a difference in his term in his office. But Saturday night’s the answer to your question, and I had steak a la stone.”
Now, just because the mayor says he’s not considering something doesn’t mean it’s not really running through his head. Witness all of his back-and-forth-ing about his presidential ambitions in the first place. But all the same, we’re beginning to become suspicious of this Kevin Sheekey character. Does he ever get in trouble for mouthing off about Bloomberg’s hypothetical political ambitions? Like, he’s leakier than your grandmother watching a America’s Funniest Pets rerun. Shouldn’t he have been fired by now? Or at least, you know, gagged?
Bloomie and Arnie, Centrist Twins [NYM]
Bloomberg on Schwarzenegger [NYDN]
Earlier: Bloomberg Toys With Gubernatorial Ambitions, Us
At Last, Clarity on Bloomberg’s Presidential Plans
