Keller @ Large: Putting Bloomberg, Patrick Claims To The Truth Test
BOSTON (CBS) - They're the two latest entries into the Democratic race for president, both with business backgrounds, both claiming they can get things done. But what happens when we put recent claims by Michael Bloomberg and Deval Patrick to the truth test?
If you've watched TV lately, chances are you've seen Bloomberg's ubiquitous ad touting his record as "a three-term mayor who brought a city back from the ashes and brought back jobs and hope with it. On the economy, a unique leader: Mike Bloomberg's created over 400,000 jobs."
But this New York Times article reports Bloomberg merely "set a goal to retain and create" 400,000 jobs. As of late 2009, the city had 130,000 more jobs than before Bloomberg's election, not 400,000.
"Proven leadership on jobs to build an economy where people don't just get by, they get ahead," promises another Bloomberg spot.
But as manufacturers cut back during the recession or fled New York outright, the Times notes many good-paying jobs had "been replaced by jobs in sectors like retail, food service and home health care that generally pay less."
In response to our inquiry, the Bloomberg campaign offered a press release from the end of his mayoral run in 2013 citing the 400,000-job figure, but didn't comment on the Times claim of lower wages for many of those new jobs or how many might have been retained rather than created.
Citing "a determination to build a better, more sustainable, more inclusive American dream for the next generation," former Gov. Deval Patrick entered the presidential race on November 14. Since then, he has touted himself as a can-do candidate, telling the website Buzzfeed he can deliver on things his competitors only "have plans for."
But if his presidential campaign is any guide, Patrick seems more like a "can't do" candidate.
On Wednesday, he put out a release complaining that Michigan has decided to keep him off its March 10th primary ballot, and that he isn't being given the same opportunity as Bloomberg, the other late entry, who will be on the ballot.
But the Michigan Democratic party tells WBZ Patrick simply missed their November 12 deadline to alert them he wanted in, while Bloomberg did not.
At least Bloomberg did his due diligence about state filing deadlines before jumping in, more than you can say for the Patrick campaign.