The Best of the Web at opinionjournal.com is more tolerant and easygoing than I am.  I admire them for that.  I suggested in …but acknowledged… that journalists not be allowed to use the word “but.” After reading Best of the Web, one realizes that it might suffice to publish a dictionary that explains the special definitions of words like “but” and “many”, as used by journalists.
 … according to the AP’s Sara Kugler, “many believe [it] could be a step toward entering the 2008 race for president.”
To make sense of this assertion, you need to be fluent in the dialect of American English known as Journalese. In Journalese, many can be either singular or plural, and it is a first-person pronoun.
Which is to say, Bloomberg is the candidate of the media, ideologically as well as professionally. The positions Kugler enumerates are all very popular among journalists. And while they are also popular among Democrats, Democratic politicians do not necessarily support them, or support them sincerely.