Has Mayor Bloomberg acknowledged your Committee’s efforts?

Gallet: The Mayor knows about the Draft effort. He’s on my mailing list, and we believe that he has visited the site, but he’s certainly not been involved in any way with us. We are simply a popular citizen’s movement. There are people from City Hall on Facebook that I’ve “friended” who keep up with what we are doing to some degree. They are not involved directly with us either, however. And we have lots of hits originating from City Hall ISPs, but that could be the janitors and the mailroom people for all we know!

I was introduced to the Mayor outside of Cooper Union once, and he’s met other Drafters in DC and Pennsylvania. He has been very gracious toward us. As far as acknowledging us in any way, though, not at all.

He says he is not running. We are a draft movement which means we are attempting to convince someone to run who is not, at this time, volunteering to run. Of course, he may just think we are a bunch of rabble-rousers!

What are three things that separate him from the rest of a very crowded field of potential candidates?

Gallet: His distinctiveness as a candidate is really critical to those of us who hope he will declare his intent to run. We believe that he represents a huge, reasonable centrist perspective in a system that has become increasingly polarized. Clearly, the two apparent leaders on each side have serious shortcomings, even within their own parties. Neither of them adequately reflects the values of their respective parties, let alone the rest of the country. We believe that Mayor Bloomberg has a great advantage as an Independent that enables him to steer his own course instead of having to appease the Partisan Machine. He’s beholden to no one, owes no one anything, and we believe his appeal to the voter would be that he has a non-partisan eye; sometimes the best course of action for addressing a liberal social issue is a conservative fiscal approach.

How is a Jewish billionaire from New York City a viable presidential candidate in Kansas, or any other traditionally Republican-leaning state?

Gallet: Clearly all the front runners have issues to overcome as does Mayor Bloomberg. The same people who will not vote for a woman, a twice-divorced Catholic, a Mormon, or a young African American, are also going to be the ones who will have a problem with Bloomberg’s religion. I believe that the country as a whole has evolved and has a much broader worldview due to technology and access to information. What will matter in 2008 is integrity, experience, demonstrated success, and independence.

Remember, Kansas City is the home of Harry Truman. Kansas produced Dwight Eisenhower. We are all about straight-talking, no-nonsense, fearless leaders who get the work done. I absolutely believe Mayor Bloomberg would be embraced by the Heartland.

Do his odds improve or decrease if the other two candidates are Hilary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani?

Gallet: The premise is that he will do best if there is a large philosophical gap between the two front runners. It really depends on how disenfranchised the average, middle-of-the-road voter feels in November of 2008. Mayor Bloomberg clearly won’t run if he thinks he will just spoil the election one way or the other. There’s a long road ahead before the shakeout. We feel strongly that he won’t make a decision for some time and it will be based on the likelihood of success. He doesn’t like to lose.

In terms of electability, which will be the more important factor in his choosing a running mate: race, gender or religion?

Gallet: I couldn’t even begin to speculate on a running mate although I think the VP office has become much more important as the current office holder has possibly had far more influence than many people have found appropriate.

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