NEW YORK -- For billionaire New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, throwing away $350,000 is equivalent to most Americans dropping loose change between the sofa cushions.
But the concern for Bloomberg is not the amount of money he personally invested in the effort to save the seats of two Colorado state senators -- an effort that failed when both were ousted from office Tuesday by voters apparently displeased with their roles in passing gun control legislation.
Instead, the overriding worry for the 71-year-old mayor is that the defeats seem to underscore his increasing inability to nationally impact the public policy issues he’s most involved with.
On the heels of his failed $12 million effort to implement stronger gun laws on the national level -- a crusade that some observers have said harmed efforts to pass background-check legislation -- Bloomberg has become a favorite punching bag for the NRA and other small-government advocates, who have singled him out as an enemy of personal freedom.
