Bloomberg campaigns for center

NEW YORK, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to work for candidates of all political stripes who are opposed by the Tea Party movement.

Bloomberg went to Rhode Island Thursday to support former U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, The New York Times reported. Chafee, who left the Republican Party after losing his seat to a Democrat, is running for governor as an independent.

Next month Bloomberg's schedule includes a trip to California to back Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for governor. The mayor is also throwing a fundraiser at his New York home for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat challenged by Sharron Angle, a Tea Party Republican, in Nevada.

Bloomberg, who became a billionaire founding the financial news service that bears his name, is a Democrat turned Republican turned independent.

In an extensive interview, he told the Times the anger displayed by many voters this year is understandable: "Washington isn't working," he said.

"Anger, however, is not a government strategy," he added. "It's not a way to govern."