Speculation bubbles over Bloomberg White House bid
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Thu Nov 8, 2007
For a man who insists he is not running for president, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the subject of much recent speculation.
Newsweek's latest issue carries a cover story on the businessman-turned-mayor in which a top aide, Kevin Sheekey, refers to an independent Bloomberg presidential run: "If it happens, it's a billion-dollar campaign."
The fact that Bloomberg is quoted in the same piece saying "I am not running for president" seemed to do little to calm the waters. Another news report analyzed his shifting answers -- moving from "I'm not running" to "I'm not a candidate" -- in television interviews over the past week.
Bloomberg's propensity to elaborate on what he think is lacking among the current crop of presidential candidates also fuels speculation. So did his recent decision to leave the Republican Party to become an independent.
Under one scenario, Bloomberg could jump into the race if Democrats and Republicans select nominees with high negative ratings in opinion polls -- namely Democratic New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican.
That could give Bloomberg, who has said he does not want to be a campaign spoiler or a vanity candidate, until Spring to decide.
Political blogger Steve Benen, who writes The Carpetbagger Report, notes that Bloomberg adviser Sheekey has been talking up the candidacy for months while Bloomberg talks it down, and says Newsweek was the latest to run with the idea.
"So what are we left with? An extremely long cover story about a candidate who isn't running, with no news to the contrary," he wrote.
The self-made billionaire founded Bloomberg LP, a news and information company and a Reuters competitor, before running for mayor as a political novice in 2001.
Now in his second term, he has proven popular, acting as a social liberal while keeping the city's economy on solid footing. A longtime Democrat, Bloomberg became a Republican to run for mayor in a less crowded field before the switch to independent in June 2007.
(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by David Alexander and Jackie Frank) |
