[Cooper:] Tonight: high stakes, high priced politics. Here in New York, Michael Bloomberg nearly spent $100 million in his campaign win his third term as mayor. A lot of money certainly is raising a lot of questions. Jason Carroll joins us with some information about the Bloomberg record spending victory. Jason, Bloomberg spent basically a record amount of money during this campaign, I think more than $97 million. Did he spend so much did he need to spend so much to win?
[Jason Carroll, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, when you look at the final results, I think Bloomberg will certainly say that he spent everything that he needed to. When you look at some of the final numbers here, some rough estimates ended up saying that he'll spend $100 million. We crunched some of the numbers to put this in perspective, Anderson. When you look at it, when you see that at this point Bloomberg has received some 556,000 votes, when you do the math there that ends up being about $170 he spent per vote. That is a lot of money. And you also want to talk about a lot of money. You look at what he spent in the past three mayoral elections; we're talking about $245 million. All of that money spent, Anderson, definitely leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of some New Yorkers.
[Cooper:] There are those who basically approve of Bloomberg's performance as mayor but some have a problem with him seeking a third term. Was his ending term a factor in this race? And it was really talked about a lot.
[Carroll:] Absolutely without question. You go out on the street I was out in the street earlier today just speaking to some voters, going into a polling place, talking to some folks there. I heard it overwhelming. You hear voters who came out and said, yes, I approve of the job that the mayor is doing. I like what he's doing in terms of the economy. I like what he's doing in terms of reducing crime. What I don't like is the fact that a few years ago he said I'm not going to run for a third term, then he turns around, lobbies the city council to extend term limit so he can run for a third term. That's definitely one of the things that played into why this particular race ended up being a lot closer than a lot of people had predicted.
[Cooper:] Yes. I think early on he called those who wanted to overturn term limits disgraceful; clearly changed his mind on that one. Do you think that contributed to a lower voter turnout?
[Carroll:] Well, I think that's part of the reason, definitely without question. Again, when I went to my polling place a little earlier today, it was like a tomb. And when I finally did speak to some of the voters who were there, a lot of them were saying, again, "I like what the mayor is doing in terms of the direction that he's trying to steer the city into but I don't like the fact that he did this sort flip-flop on term limits. I'm uncomfortable with the idea that he outspent his opponent, William Thompson, by more than ten to one." Thompson spending some what $8 million on this campaign? A lot of these things left a bitter taste in the mouths of some folks out there. They say, "You know I support the guy." When it comes to a third term, why wasn't that vote put to the people of New York, to let them decide? One of the factors that I think played into the race as well.
[Cooper:] All right Jason. Appreciate the reporting tonight. Mayor Bloomberg spent a bundle but it was hardly a blowout vote. What does this record spending say about money in politics? Joining us for one more time tonight David Gergen, Ari Fleischer, Roland Martin and Pamela Gentry. Pamela, did he need to spend that much money?
[Gentry:] I guess if you have it, I guess why not. I mean, That's a lot of money. I mean, what is it, 10-1, $170 per voter, that does seem like a lot of money. I think the thing here in New York is that Bloomberg has been this iconic type of figure. He's almost a celebrity type mayor in the sense that he's already this multimillionaire. He has nothing else to do. I guess this is something he wants to do to occupy his time. He's done well by the City of New York. But I do think it's interesting, I think we should at least acknowledge that Bill Thompson gave him a pretty good run for his money for the money, literally. And he brought in, you know, a good showing. This race was a lot closer, I think, than any of us expected it to be.
[Cooper:] Yes, I think he was a multimillionaire like 20 or 30 years ago. We're now talking billions.
[Gentry:] I'm sorry, get those Bs and Ms.
[Cooper:] Billionaires find that insulting from what I understand.
[Martin:] You know Anderson, I think what was insulting really is the fact that he decided to overturn the will of the voters and the supreme arrogance to say, "Look, I won a third term. I don't care if you guys actually pass this. The council went along with it." I will not be surprised if you look at whatever exit polling data in terms of these close results. He blew out the last guy, Barrow, when Barrow ran four years ago. For this to be this close, that's an issue. I have a problem when you just say, "The heck with the vote of the people, I just want to do what I want to do. I'm sorry."
[Fleischer:] But money isn't everything in politics as we saw in New Jersey. Governor Corzine outspent Chris Christie by more than $10 million; again his own money. I've seen races where the rich guy loses. I've seen them when they win. Ideas and ideology still are really the dominant force in politics. Another local raised here, but Westchester County, New York, a county of almost 1 million people; a Republican won the county executive race there running against what we call the tax madness of government here. So these ideological issues still play a very powerful role.
[Gergen:] I was reminded of what, I think, Jack Kennedy said about his father after he won in the 1960s. His father sent him a note saying, "I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to buy the election but not one damn penny more." Listen, people change their minds about running again. Teddy Roosevelt famously changed his mind. He went down to defeat doing that. But I tell you this, I will wager when history is written, Mike Bloomberg will be remembered as one of the best mayors New York ever had.
[Martin:] He didn't change his mind. He changed the will of the people.
[Cooper:] We're going to leave it there. Pamela Gentry, Roland Martin, Ari Fleischer, David Gergen, appreciate it. Thanks tonight. We're also following some other important stories including the latest on a young woman who was allegedly run over by her father because police say she'd became too westernized, according to the father. New information about that disturbing case ahead and the latest on the races.