Bloomberg candidacy unlikely

John McCain seems to be well on his way to capturing the republican nominee after his string of victory's and especially his latest in Floriday. Rudy Giuliani has dropped out of the campaign and thrown his support behind McCain and a litany of other endorsements are streaming in for the senior Senator from Arizona. Most interesting among these endorsements, as this blog is concerned, is that of California Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar, who is very close with Michael Bloomberg. This endorsement seems to signal that the likelihood of Bloomberg entering the race is now very small.

A couple of factors have come into play. First, the electorate across the nation seems quite satisfied with the slate of candidates that the two parties have put up for nomination. There simply has not been the clamoring for a third party run that may have been expected given the dismal approval ratings of the Republican White House and the Democratic Congress. Second, McCain is a legitimate centrist candidate that will appeal to much of the same constituency that would have supported a legitimate independent candidate such as Bloomberg. The Republicans generally rally around a strong conservative but this time it looks like the nomination will go to a candidate who the Republican establishment is a little bit afraid of.

On the Democratic side, Barack Obama could still capture the nomination which would take out the major polarizing figure left, Hillary Clinton, out of the picture entirely. Obama-Mccain matchup would not be one that Michael Bloomberg could emerge from.

Bloomberg is evaluating VP candidates

A news story on Michael Bloomberg's candidacy says that a Bloomberg insider says that vice-presidential candidates are being interviewed and vetted for the ticket and further that an announcement on his decision will probably come in early March. The VP candidate will be announced at the same time to give the complete ticket more time to gain acceptance with the public, to make it easier to get petition signatures, and to avoid having to go back to each of the fifty states to amend their ballots to add a VP candidate.

Vice Presidential candidates being considered include former senators Sam Nunn (D - Georgia) and Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska).

From the Houston Chronicle:

Could there be a candidate Bloomberg in the wings?

Draft Bloomberg Petition Gaining Momentum

The petition to draft bloomberg as an independent candidate for president is gaining steam as evidenced by the 500+ signatures in the last 24 hours. This is the highest 24 hour total that I have observed. A widget version of this petition is on the right side of this page. Please sign it! Even if you are partial to a current Republican or Democratic candidate, having a significant third party voice in the race is good for the country. It brings new ideas into the race and force each candidate to try and unite the country instead of polarizing by pandering to the base.

If you want to see the petition at its official home on the web, visit

http://www.draftbloomberg.com

Santa Clara Op-Ed: Bloomberg is a "Supercandidate"

An Op-Ed in the Santa Clara student paper outlines the reasons why Bloomberg would be a powerful independent candidate for President and have a great impact on our nation as President of the United States.

The spread of these types of opininion pieces is crucial to building the groundswell of support needed to fuel an independent run and to get the word out.

From The Santa Clara:

Bloomberg: a viable independent

National Ballot Access Difficult for Bloomberg

An article from Newsday notes that ballot expert Clay Mulford says that arcane ballot rules in 50 states makes it very difficult to get on ballots nationwide. Bloomberg probably has the resources and werewithal to do it, but it would make much easier if he could latch on to a third party, like the greens or libertarians, for ballot access. In a way, both theeventual Republican candidate and the eventual Democratic candidate will have had to go through a tremendous amount of work to win their party's nomination so it is fair enough that an independent can't just walk up and put his name on the ballot. There ought to be some barriers. However, by having complicated and difficult hurdles in many states, such as Texas where a candidate needs 75,000 signatures in just two months from non-primary voters, the existing two party system is only further insulated from a highly credible third party candidate such as Mike Bloomberg.

From Newsday:

Expert says hard for Bloomberg to get on ballots

Ralph Nader Considering Candidacy

While this blog is focused on encouraging Mike Bloomberg to run, a news item today notes that third party candidate from 2000 and 2004, Ralph Nader, will decide in one month whether or not he will launch a presidential bid in 2008. This might take away from a possible Bloomberg run and would cut into the constituency of voters who are tired of the two major parties, even though Bloomberg and Nader have much different backgrounds.

From Yahoo News:

Nader to decide soon on possible presidential run

Bloomberg Grassroot Movement

The grassroots movement for a Michael Bloomberg independent run for president is growing. Here are a few of the key sites that have popped up:

http://www.uniteformike.com

http://www.draftbloomberg.com/

http://www.runmikerun.com/

http://www.draftmichael.com/

Bloomberg meets with Lance Armstrong in Texas

Michael Bloomberg and Lance Armstrong met to tour a hospital and to talk about solutions to create a new push for a cure for cancer. Lance Armstrong noted that Bloomberg "represents the best interests of the people" and "an independent agenda".

While in Texas, Bloomberg met with the engineer of Ross Perot's ballot access effort in Texas, Perot's son-in-law Clay Mulford. This is further evidence of Bloomberg's serious investigation into running for President as an independent candidate in 2008.

More from the Dallas Morning News:

In Austin, Bloomberg, Armstrong hint at political futures

Bloomberg's common sense infrastructure solutions

Michael Bloomberg announced the creation of a bipartisan national council to improve our nation's infrastructure in a joint appearance with Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and California Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar on Saturday. He noted that major investment in infrastructure is something that is sorely needed (e.g. Minnesota Bridge, New Orleans Levy) and would provide a strong stimulus to the economy. He criticized Washington D.C. politicians for neglecting these issues.

These are the types of common sense, non-partisan, and NEEDED policies that we could expect with Michael Bloomberg as our President and it is why it is so important that he run as an independent candidate this year. It's refreshing to hear policies that make sense and solve real problems.

From Newsday:

Bloomberg makes speech on national economy

Mike Bloomberg's Bio

Want to know more about New York City Mayor and possible presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg?

Michael Bloomberg bio

Bloomberg to appear at event with Ed Rendell and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Michael Bloomberg will be appearing at an event in Los Angeles with Governors Ed Rendell (Pennsylvania) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (California) on Saturday regarding a joint infrastructure project. This has led to speculation of a joint ticket of Bloomberg and Rendell.

This may be a veiled campaign event. However, if it is actually about infrastructure, this is a great example of how Bloomberg is already taking national leadership rolls to reach across parties and bring people together to find solution. If this is a campaign event or campaign announcement, I will be excited. But if not, I am still excited to see what these guys have come up with together.

More details from the Seattle Times:

Bloomberg-Rendell gig fuels ticket talk

Draft Bloomberg Petition Launched

The duo that left Unity08 last week has launched its site, http://www.draftmichaelbloomberg.com/, which outlines why his presidential candidacy is important.



Their petition is now available here, on http://www.runbloombergrun.com/



With Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton potentially re-establishing themselves as frontrunners, things are shaping up for a successful third party run.



Run, Mike, Run!

Former Unity08 members to announce committee next week to draft Bloomberg

To follow up on my last post, the New York Daily News reports today that Doug Bailey and Gerald Rafshoon , former Unity08 board members are working to create a committee to draft Michael Bloomberg to run for President of the United States if the Republicans and Democrats continue to pander to their extremist wings.

Two from presidential reform group quit to draft Mayor Bloomberg for 2008 bid

They will have further news next week...

Unity08 Letter Implicates Bloomberg Run

Unity08 which was created to bring an end to the current national divisiveness fostered by our current parties has updated its website to indicate they are drawing back resources from their goal for the moment due to lack of funding. The website ALSO alludes, however, to an impending presidential run by Michael Bloomberg. In fact, two of the Unity08 board members have resigned in order to form a committee to draft Bloomberg to run.

http://unity08.com/

More Speculation on Bloomberg Presidential run - New york times calling for decision

U.S. / Politics
Calls Grow for Bloomberg to Make Up His Mind
By DIANE CARDWELL and RAY RIVERA
Published: January 11, 2008
Michael Bloomberg’s dalliance with the idea of running for president is suddenly sparking a backlash.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/us/politics/11bloomberg.html?ex=1357794000&en=2fc6301856e669e6&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Bi-partisan meeting in Oklahoma with Bloomberg today

The financial times reports that Michael Bloomberg is continuing to build up support from members of the Republican and Democratic party who are disenchanted with the current slate of Presidential candidates. FOrmer senators Sam Nunn of Georgia and David Boren from Oklahoma are participating. The ostensible goal is to put pressure on both major parties to end partisan gridlock. I say this is unlikely. After 16 years of polarizing administrations, it will be hard for either party to change their mentality of winning and losing instead of doing what is right, politics be damned.

This is exciting news that Bloomberg is working behind the scenes to build support. By having prominent members of each party behind him, an independent run would have credibility. It would also limit the credibility of attacks from the potential Rep. and Dem. nominees.

From the Financial Times:

Speculation over Bloomberg candidacy grows