Pode$ta's Perfidy

We did mention the curious endorsement that John Podesta gave to Mike Bloomberg the other day. As we pointed out: "But the subtext here, is the residual power of the Bloomberg fortune: "Since Mr. Obama’s election, Mr. Thompson, the city’s comptroller, has found his attempts to piggyback on Mr. Obama’s popularity drowned out by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has tethered himself to the president...On Tuesday, he accepted the endorsement of a close Obama ally, John D. Podesta, who ran Mr. Obama’s transition team last fall."All but forgotten is the millions lavished on state senate Republicans-and the fact that MB never even endorsed Obama last fall; not to mention all of the wooing of local Republican county leaders-along with the cash bounties that go with it. And does the endorsement by John Podesta have nothing to do with the cash nexus?"

But, as the Observer has indicated, very few Democrats spoke out against this cash-driven perfidy-except for the following outspoken candor from RWDSU's Staurt Appelbaum: "Appelbuam said Podesta “has done harm” to his reputation, and that of his think tank, the Center for American Progress..."Unfortunately, in his attempt to curry favor with the billionaire mayor of New York City, John Podesta has done harm to his own reputation as well as to the credibility of the Center for American Progress. Working people in New York are hurting while Bloomberg pursues Republican economic policies on development and finance. Mr. Podesta should come to the Bronx and see what is really going on in our city."

Curry favor indeed-another example of the corrosive effect of mega-bucks on the Democratic process. Absent Bloomberg's billions, would a John Podesta even give the guy the time of day?