HOWARD KURTZ REPORTS THAT everybody hates Mike Bloomberg. It’s spun mostly as a failure of political savvy, but I wonder if Bloomberg’s policies don’t have as much to do with it as his political clumsiness. Bloomberg seems to want to turn New York into Singapore — only without the efficiency or prosperity. It’s not just that he’s a political naif, it’s that he’s a bossy, priggish assaulter of all that New York is supposed to be about.

UPDATE: Well, Bloomberg has his defenders, as reader Clay Boswell writes:

You suggest that Bloomberg is hated because his policies are contrary to what New York is supposed to be about. Which policies are you referring to? The smoking ban–okay. What else? He’s not responsible for the MTA fare increase–those are Pataki’s people, though nobody seems to recognize that. The school system needs changing, and he’s moved there–the only people bothered by that are the bureaucrats in the school board and the people in Albany who won’t let go, whether they know what to do with their power or not. And the teachers who shouldn’t be teaching–I doubt you sympathize with them. The tax increases? Is New York about low taxes? If they don’t rise at least temporarily, New York is going to be about bankruptcy.

On the other hand, reader Dave O’Leary writes:

You hit the nail on the head. He wants to put training wheels on the City. Additionally, we elected him in the hopes that his business acumen could guide us through the tough economic times that obviously lay ahead. Instead he shown himself to be an adherent of everything that’s been wrong with NYC economics for the ages. His solution to every financial problem is the same, raise taxes. Additionally, he destroyed much needed credibility by citing fictional statistics during his smoking jihad. The first act of his successor, anyone but Sharpton please, should be to run him out of town.

The smoking ban seems to be a special irritant, and not just among smokers.