While all sorts of Republicans are jumping into the presidential race, no serious challenger has emerged against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, notes New York Post columnist
Seth Lipsky.
Former Maryland Governor and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, who is considering a White House bid,
has come under fire, accused of contributing to the abysmal relations between police and minority communities that exploded into view during last week's riots in Charm City.
Freshman Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 65 -- now in her third year in that chamber –is almost 50 points behind Mrs. Clinton in the polls.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the only announced Democratic candidate challenging Clinton thus far, is a 73-year-old Socialist who trails her by well over 50 points in the polls,
Real Clear Politics reports.
Another prospective challenger, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has been "mired in scandal himself," Lipsky writes, in the wake of his decision to shut down
the Moreland Commission, which had been created to root out corruption in state politics.
But he believes former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg might be the kind of liberal Democrat who could give Mrs. Clinton a serious run for the nomination.
Although Bloomberg was a Republican during his tenure as New York, many of his political views – including his positions on illegal immigration, gun control, gay marriage, and
discouraging the use of coal – put him closer to the mainstream of the Democratic Party.
But in contrast to Hillary, Bloomberg also displayed a willingness to challenge the left, particularly on crime and homeland security.
Crime was way down" under Bloomberg, "and he knew how to defend cops and back Police Commissioner Ray Kelly," Lipsky writes.
If Bloomberg had remained mayor long enough, "I believe, he’d have won the stop-question-and-frisk case in the Court of Appeals," Lipsky writes.
Moreover, "the NYPD's vigil against another terrorist strike set a model that other cities (and the federal government) could study as ISIS vies for an American foothold."
Lipsky believes Bloomberg would be tougher in negotiations with Iran and "would never have gotten into the kind of fight with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did."