Gingrich, Ford Laud Bloomberg's Leadership

Mayor Bloomberg's potential presidential bid is getting a boost from a former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, and a former Democratic congressman of Tennessee, Harold Ford, who during a visit to New York praised the mayor for his leadership and ability to make government run effectively.

During a lunch at the Four Seasons Hotel with some of the city's biggest political donors yesterday, Mr. Gingrich said he takes his hat off to the mayor for proving government can be effective. He also credited Chancellor Joel Klein for his work in the city's schools.

"The effectiveness they 've shown in actually getting the city to work is an integral story of what could happen in Albany or could happen in Washington if you had leadership that understood the power of metrics and understood the power of forcing really big decisions," Mr. Gingrich said.

Mr. Ford also heaped on kind words, saying that during his failed race for the Senate he found that even people who didn't vote for him believed the country's greatest failure during the past few years was a lack of leadership in Washington.

"You New Yorkers should be proud, because you've got one," he said. "And we, as a country, as we move towards this next election, should be hungrier than ever for that."

Mr. Gingrich also is considered a potential presidential candidate. Mr. Bloomberg acknowledged the possibility with a light joke, saying he's read stories that Mr. Gingrich might throw his hat into the White House race.

"Don't you just hate it Newt, when people are floating rumors about running for president?" he said. "It's terrible."

Mr. Bloomberg assembled the crowd in the hotel's Pool Room to give political donors, for the second year, small cards listing what he sees as the city's top priorities.

The mayor wants donors to review the cards before they agree to give any money, and to ask candidates how they will help the city reach its goals, he said.

"By leveraging our influence, you really can make an enormous difference for New York City," Mr. Bloomberg said. "Next time a politician calls you and asks you for support and tells you what he or she wants, I think it's time you pull out this card and tell them what New York City needs."

The card lists homeland security funding, competitiveness, care for September 11 recovery workers' health problems, affordable housing, climate change, and a tax trade-in plan to fund a rail link between John F. Kennedy Airport and Lower Manhattan as the city's top priorities.

Specifically, the mayor wants federal homeland security funding divvied up based on threat levels and is urging Congress to loosen Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and visa and immigration policies to keep New York competitive.

Mr. Bloomberg is looking to the state Legislature to pass laws to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote mass transit. Mr. Bloomberg on Sunday will unveil his long-term sustainability plan, which is said to include some form of congestion pricing, and has said he needs help from Albany to meet his goals.

A senior vice president at Merrill Lynch & Co. who attended the lunch, Jason Wright, said he keeps his card in his wallet and consulted it last year when candidates asked him for donations.

"It's an easy ask, because it's not for you," he said.

In 2006, the card said raising the state cap on charter schools and opposing eminent domain legislation in Congress were top priorities. Both were cut from this year's list after the goals were met.

Mr. Gingrich said the city's political donors should not hesitate to ask candidates from across the country for help on city issues.

"When you talk about the economic future of New York, you are inherently talking about the economic future of the United States," he said. "This is not selfishness for the city."

Mr. Gingrich also noted the city's dramatic reduction in crime and credited Mayor Dinkins with beginning the effort, a comment Mr. Bloomberg later echoed while speaking with reporters after lunch.

Mayor Giuliani, a Republican presidential candidate who beat Mr. Dinkins in 1993, has been widely credited for stamping out crime in the city.