Bloomberg's impact will be on the Democrats, more so than Nader, for two reasons: he is a liberal who will take away a lot more Democratic votes than GOP ones, and second his "bipartisanship" moderate platform is a natural one that bests the contrived triangulation to the same positions by the Democrats. So perhaps Bloomberg will be the final act in cementing the Democrats' ideological irrelevancy.
The same questions and more arise, as the last time around that we discussed this (and I apologise if I have forgotten the answers): the Democrats (it seems to me) represent a weak but present barrier against a full blown assault on labour, women, gay, black people, etc. While the initial setback of the demolition of the Democrats might be a positive, even necessary, step in the direction of a long- lasting solution for these groups and the underlying ideologies, what of the suffering caused in the transition period? Are those directly affected ready and able to bear that cost?
--ravi