New York, NY - Mayor Bloomberg's Blunder

New York, NY - Mayor Bloomberg's decision, in the midst of the crisis over the shooting of Sean Bell, to turn to the Al Sharpton is one of those errors that he is going to have to deal with as he contemplates a campaign for the presidency in 2008.

The mayor's reputation suffered, certainly thousands of New Yorkers shook their heads in amazement when they picked up their newspapers to see the pictures of the mayor embracing Rev. Sharpton. Amazement turned to dismay as the mayor promptly pronounced the firing of 50 shots by the police "excessive" and "unacceptable." It may well be that something went wrong, that the police erred. But it was precisely the mayor's responsibility at that moment to stress the need for avoiding the pronouncement of judgments.
If he can be rushed into a premature pronouncement by the likes of Rev. Sharpton, how would he perform in a showdown with the likes of, say, Presidents Putin or Hu.