Fred2Blue

UPDATE (by Chris): Dan’s theory got the attention of none other than the New York Times.  

Yesterday, in talking to friends in my native state of Connecticut, I picked up on something that may have contributed greatly to Obama’s primary victory there.  

The Metro-North New Haven Line is a commuter train that runs from NYC’s Grand Central Terminal through the ritzy Fairfield County suburbs to New Haven, Conn.  It is from places like Darien, Noroton Heights, Rowayton, Westport, and Southport that many commute to work in Manhattan via the New Haven Line.

I got some interesting insight from these Dem Bar-Car Denizens that a small but significant portion of their cohorts - for months disenchanted with the field of Ds running - were warming to the possibility of a presidential run by Indy NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg.   Bloomberg, a man who self-financed to the tune of a gazillion dollars, both of his successful mayoral runs, is very well respected by a broad spectrum of voters in NYC, the business community, and suburban commuters.  And, it was said that Bloomberg, who has more money than God has teeth, would only have the voters to answer to (not special interests).

There was no secret that Mayor Bloomberg had set in motion the mechanisms necessary to run for the White House.  But that was when it looked like Sen. Hillary Clinton might have locked up the Democratic nomination by Super Tuesday, and, the Republicans would be swooning for his mayoral predecessor, ladies eveningwear fashionista, and President of 9/11, Rudy Guiliani.   And BTW, there is no love lost between the current Hizzoner and the former.

But, as we know, conventional wisdom is almost always wrong.  

With a return from the dead by so-called moderate Sen. John McCain on the Republican side, and the dramatic emergence of Sen. Barack Obama on the Democratic side changing everything, it is said that Bloomberg abandoned the idea of a presidential run, leaving the Gin & Tonic swilling, poker playing passengers on the 5:08 to New Haven longing for a candidate to support.

Unlike Virginia, Connecticut recognizes political parties. So, to have voted in yesterday’s primary, one would have had to be registered as a Democrat or Republican.  Obama, may have filled the void with registered Dems disappointed by Bloomberg’s decision to abandon a White House run.  And, exit polls indicate that Obama attracted highly-educated, high-earning Fairfield County voters.

All aboard!