Several years before his candidacy, he began personally delivering for the city's Meals on Wheels program and launched the Prep for Prep mentoring program for poor minority students. Less savory aspects of his character include his penchant for off-color remarks, which triggered several sexual harassment suits, and a proclivity for cultlike company policies including a rule that forbids current employees from fraternizing with those who've left the fold. With his net worth and his notoriety, Bloomberg should easily beat his probable Republican primary opponent, Herman Badillo . But that's as far as it will go. The fact that Mayor Rudy Giuliani happens to be a Republican won't even give Bloomberg a leg up, says Adler.
Voters are like a rubber band.
You can pull it away from its base, but it will always snap back. New Yorkers just don't vote Republican unless they are mad at the Democrats. An acrimonious Democratic primary could draw the Big Apple's ire and send some votes Bloomberg's way, but that prospect doesn't seem likely. Fill in this form for your free trial issue. U.S. indexes are real-time.