After strong-arming his way onto the ballot for an illegal third term as mayor (he bludgeoned the City Council into making it legal), Mike Bloomberg did indeed win that third term. But his presidential hopes suffered a big blow.

How's it going to look to the nation for him to eke out a victory over a mediocre hack like Bill Thompson, who featured a shoddy and suspicious record as comptroller?

A tiny turnout almost undid the billionaire mayor, who poured in $90 billion million of his own money to outspend Thompson by a 14-1 ratio. But Bloomberg was able to buy off the major unions and they specifically helped him get out enough voters to the polls. Once again, the working class bails out a billionaire.