NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg possibly jumping into 2008 Presidential Race

Bloomberg Inches Yet Closer To Running As Centrist Independent.

It now appears as if the public, the media and the political establishment are being prepared for an announcement that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will launch an independent run for President.

On January 7, 2008, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is going to meet with Unity08, a high-powered bipartisan group of elder statesmen that is on the brink of finding a candidate to back, and there’s a possibility that they could join forces in a third party bid. This meeting with Unity08, including Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel and former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, both of whom have been frequently mentioned as possible running mates, will be to pressure the major party candidates to promote national unity and reduce partisan gridlock.

A final decision by Mr. Bloomberg about whether to run is unlikely before February. Still, he and his closest advisers are positioning themselves so that if the mayor declares his candidacy, a turnkey campaign infrastructure will virtually be in place.

Bloomberg aides have studied the process for launching independent campaigns, which formally begins March 5, when third-party candidates can begin circulating nominating petitions in Texas. If Democrats and Republicans have settled on their presumptive nominees at that point, Mr. Bloomberg will have to decide whether he believes those candidates are vulnerable to a challenge from a pragmatic, progressive centrist, which is how he would promote himself.

The filing deadline for the petitions, which must be signed by approximately 74,000 Texas voters who did not participate in the state’s Democratic or Republican primaries, is May 12.

Advisers have said Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire many times over, might invest as much as $1 billion of his own fortune (he spent about $160 million on his two mayoral races) on a presidential campaign.

But they warned that while they were confident of getting on the ballot in every state, the process was complicated and fraught with legal challenges, and that Mr. Bloomberg would begin with an organizational disadvantage, competing against rivals who have been campaigning full time for years.

Bloomberg does NOT want to be seen as “a rich Ralph Nader” — someone who is in the race but doesn’t really have a chance to win, although he could influence the debates and take votes away from someone else as a “spoiler.”

Next week’s meeting, reported on Sunday in The Washington Post, comes as the mayor’s advisers have been quietly canvassing potential campaign consultants about their availability in the coming months.

And Mr. Bloomberg himself has become more candid in conversations with friends and associates about his interest in running, according to participants in those conversations. Despite public denials, the mayor has privately suggested several scenarios in which he might be a viable candidate: for instance, if the opposing major party candidates are poles apart, like Mike Huckabee, a Republican, versus Barack Obama or John Edwards as the Democratic nominee.

Forbes and other sources report his net worth at US$11.5 billion as of 2007. Bloomberg is among the world's richest people. He was ranked 34th by Forbes magazine in its list of 400 Richest Americans in September 2006. He was ranked 142nd in its list of the The World's Billionaires in March 2007.

As mayor of New York, Bloomberg declines to receive a city salary, accepting remuneration of $1.00 annually for his services.

On the major issue of abortion, Bloomberg is considered pro-choice. He supports abortion rights, stating: "Reproductive choice is a fundamental human right and we can never take it for granted, on this issue, you're either with us or against us."

Bloomberg supports governmental funding for stem cell research, calling the Republican position on the issue "insanity," while also supporting same-sex marriage with the rationale that “I think anybody should be allowed to marry anybody."

On June 19, 2007, Bloomberg left the Republican Party, filing as an Independent after a speech criticizing the current political climate in Washington.

Bloomberg's term as mayor ends on December 31, 2009. He is prohibited by term limits from being re-elected in November 2009; however, he can be elected mayor again after a four-year wait.

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Various Sources include [The Moderate Voice], [Huffington Post], [MSNBC], [Wikipedia]