Bloomberg Endorses Blind, Funny NJ House Candidate

Mayor Bloomberg today endorsed blind rabbi/psychologist Dennis Shulman in a New Jersey Congressional race. What’s his interest in Shulman? He has served as a special advisor to Bloomberg, and in this morning’s press conference the Mayor praised Shulman’s “pragmatic, sensible approach” to the economy and gun control, issues dear to Bloomberg’s heart. Schulman’s a fascinating character: though blind from childhood, he graduated Brandeis (magna cum laude, Phi Betta Kappa) and Harvard, wrote some books, and grew a successful therapy practice. He told the New Yorker that he and the partially-sighted Governor Paterson agree that “there should be a conspiracy by the blind to take over all levels of government,” and (per the Times) that “blindness is the new gay.” Schulman also calls his opponent, ultraconservative incumbent Scott Garrett, a “Neanderthal.”