K – I agree that the treatment of Bloomberg as a Republican is a bit disconcerting, and I know Andrew will get a bit cross about this, but his win is a victory for Republicans in two very important and related senses. First, his win is a loss for Democrats. In a political system divided into only two major parties, when one of them loses the other wins. Bloomberg may be a squish, a meddler, a social planner and all the rest, but his victory is a major defeat for the Democratic machine in New York. The crushing of that machine is enormous progress. Bloomberg is an engine of creative destruction, and we can only hope that conservatives learn how to take advantage of the desrtruction.

Second, Bloomberg’s victory in at least some small way shows that the paleo-liberalism at the historic heart of the Democratic Party is a loser — even in New York City. Its replacement — Bloomberg Republicanism — isn’t a lot better, I grant you. But much of Bloomberg’s appeal was non-ideological. He’s just better at the job than the Democrats would be.

Now, I’m not trying to spin. For conservative Republicans, this is obviously a very, very, very thin silver lining on what was a generally bad day over all for the Party and the movement. But as someone who grew up in New York City, to see the self-destruction of the New York Democratic machine unfold before my eyes, I have to take some satisfaction, even if I dislike the instrument of destruction.