We’re in that stage of campaign speculation where anyone who introduces a Barack Obama speech is assumed to be a serious vice presidential prospect. That makes today’s man of the hour New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who was on hand this morning for Obama’s speech on the economy. But let’s just slow down and remember that Bloomberg has a lady “companion,” used to be a Republican, and is a Jewish man from New York City. I think not.

Matt Yglesias has a much better idea for what Bloomberg should do when he’s term limited out of the mayoralty:

Bloomberg could leave NYC and move on to a second political career as the mayor of a more challenging city. He did a good job in New York, but can he tackle the more serious problems of a Baltimore? A Detroit? That’d be truly great mayoring.

Indeed, I’ve often thought that other cities would benefit more than New York from Bloomberg’s governing style. What’s more realistic, though, is Matt’s other suggestion that Bloomberg take his immense wealth and invest in a policy shop pushing the importance of urban issues.

—Dana Goldstein

Dana Goldstein, a former associate editor and writer at the Prospect, comes from a family of public-school educators. She received the Spencer Fellowship in Education Journalism, a Schwarz Fellowship at the New America Foundation, and a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellowship at the Nation Institute. Her journalism is regularly featured in Slate, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Daily Beast, and other publications, and she is a staff writer at the Marshall Project.