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Bloomberg in Iowa – sort of |
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By Sam Youngman
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Posted: 12/27/07 03:58 PM [ET] |
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DES MOINES -- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) isn’t completely sitting out the fun in Iowa.
With a week to go before the Iowa caucuses, a group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), which was founded by Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, ran ads Thursday in the two biggest papers in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
The full-page ad, appearing in The Des Moines Register and The Manchester Union Leader, contains excerpts of a 16-question candidate questionnaire MAIG sent to the presidential candidates on Dec. 6 and reminds them that the deadline to submit the answers is Jan. 2, the day before the Iowa caucuses.
The two questions in the ad are: “Do you think the federal government should have the authority to stop gun sales to terror suspects?” and “Do you support tougher sentences for criminals who conduct illegal gun trafficking?”
Bloomberg has been a driver behind the campaign, and its injection into the 2008 race has allowed the mayor – who continues to say that he has no plans to enter the race as an independent – to stay involved in the early part of the contest and keep observers guessing about his intentions regarding the presidential race.
“Illegal guns are too important an issue to ignore, they are being used to harm the citizens and police of American cities everyday,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “Shooting deaths of police officers are up over 30% this year, according to a report released today. I encourage those running for President of the United States to answer the Mayors Against Illegal Guns survey to let mayors and their constituents know where they stand on illegal guns, and criminals’ easy access to them.”
The ad did not say how many of the campaigns have responded to the survey or whether they intend to do so.
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