It's because the cities are unbelievably corrupt. Bloomberg was the only non-corrupt mayor because he could buy his way to victory and didn't have to rely on th

It's because the cities are unbelievably corrupt. Bloomberg was the only non-corrupt mayor because he could buy his way to victory and didn't have to rely on the established political machinery to get there. But he was just 1 person and with the kinds of revenues NYC was bringing in, there was just so many opportunities to scratch backs. Other pols are so indebted to so many people/organizations/etc that corruption is going to happen. They can't rise to power without getting all these favors which are to be repaid once they acquire power. How do you get power? You get the support of the political machine in your area. How do you get that support? You get the organizations that fund that machine on your side. How do you get those organizations on your side? You promise to make their investment in you pay dividends when you come into power.