Bloomberg's secret White House bid

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | May 11, 2007 | Toby Harnden

[Stoat]

Bloomberg's secret White House bid

By Toby Harnden, US Editor, in Washington
 

Last Updated: 9:25pm BST 11/05/2007

• Toby Harnden's blog: President Bloomberg's plan
• Profile: Michael Bloomberg

  Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman and mayor of New York, is secretly building the financial and organisational foundations of an audacious third-party presidential candidacy that would transform the 2008 race for the White House.

  	A recent poll gave Mr Bloomberg a 73 per cent approval rating among New Yorkers

  “He wants to do this, he thinks he could win it and he thinks he could be a great president,” said a source closely connected to the mayor’s inner circle.

  “Mike Bloomberg has got $500 million to spend and he is supremely confident.”

  The Daily Telegraph has established that a senior aide to Mr Bloomberg has held three lunch meetings, two of them last month, with officials from the Independence Party during which there were detailed discussions of how a third-party bid could be launched.

  Kevin Sheekey, Mr Bloomberg’s special adviser and chief political strategist, first met Frank MacKay, New York chair of the Independence Party, for exploratory talks in November at Manhattan’s Four Seasons hotel.

  Two further lunch meetings, over steak and seafood at Bobby Van’s restaurant on Broad Street in Manhattan, took place in quick succession early last month.

  The two men were joined by Tom Connolly, state vice chair of the Independence Party. At the most recent lunch, another Bloomberg political consultant dropped by for part of the meeting which, like the others, took place at the Bloomberg camp’s request.

  A centrist Bloomberg candidacy could seriously damage Hillary Clinton if she emerged as the Democratic nominee. But a conservative Republican nominee such as John McCain, Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson, who has yet to enter the race, could also stand to lose millions of votes to him.

  Ross Perot, who secured 19 per cent of the vote in 1992, is widely credited with enabling Bill Clinton to defeat President George Bush Snr.

  Mr Bloomberg would be likely to run as a social liberal and fiscal conservative with signature issues such as environmentalism and gun control.

  Mr MacKay declined to confirm or deny whether the meetings had happened but said that he thought Mr Bloomberg would make an “excellent candidate” in 2008.

  “It’s a wide-open field. This is a unique time.

  “The Democrats winning the House and the Senate sets up a polarising situation. There’s going to be a lot of conflict between Nancy Pelosi [Speaker of the House of Representatives and a Democrat] and George Bush and people are going to have their fill of it.”

  Running as an independent candidate is a formidable organisational undertaking because of the different rules across the country about being allowed on the ballot.

  “I’m absolutely in touch with leaders in all 50 states who want a third party established,” said Mr MacKay.

  “We are just waiting for the right candidate.”

  Mr Bloomberg, 65, has publicly denied he is seeking the presidency while clearly enjoying the speculation. He was re-elected mayor in 2005 and a recent poll gave him a 73 per cent approval rating among New Yorkers.

  His financial information company Bloomberg is believed to be worth about $20 billion, making his personal stake some $13 billion - a fortune that would give him the launching pad to compete easily even in what is certain to be the most expensive election in US history.

  Only this week Mr Bloomberg relaunched the website www.mikebloomberg.com that he used to run for mayor in 2001 and 2005. Almost identical in style to sites being used by declared presidential candidates, it includes links to articles that examine his credentials as a third-party candidate.

  Earlier this year in an interview with Fortune magazine, Mr Bloomberg talked about his future saying “assuming I’m not living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” - the address of the White House.

  Mr Bloomberg is understood to waiting until next February to see who will emerge as the Republican and Democratic nominees before making a final decision.

  Mr MacKay said: “The fly in the ointment for Bloomberg would be Giuliani because he is moderate to Left when you look at Republicans. Bloomberg would be squeezed.

  “He needs a Fred Thompson or a Mitt Romney or even a John McCain. Anyone coming from the Right could leave someone like Mike Bloomberg a tremendous amount of room to get that middle ground.”

  A Bloomberg company source said that Mr Bloomberg had made preparations to borrow enough money against his stake in the company to fund a presidential campaign.

  “When the mayoral race was being considered, people said he would be crazy to do it and he had no chance. Then he won. He’s got a financial plan for 2008 and he’s ready to pull the trigger.”

  Stu Loeser, Mr Bloomberg’s spokesman, confirmed that meetings with the Independence Party took place but said that they were about the general issue of how a third-party presidential candidate could compete in 2008.

  “The meetings are recent but it’s not the first time we’ve spoken about supporting independent candidacies,” he said.

  “The mayor thinks the speculation is very flattering but he’s not running for president. His next career will be as a full-time philanthropist.”

  He added: “People read presidential motives into a lot of what he’s doing...but the speculation is good for him and it’s very good for the city. It’s an advantage that he’s more than happy to exploit.”

  A political operative who has spoken to senior Bloomberg aides, said: “This is as dead serious as a heart attack. If they are not serious, then these people are the greatest actors, the best showmen I’ve ever seen. They are talking minutiae. They’ve done tons of research and looked into this very deeply.”

[Stoat]

Ithought that there were already enough candidates, but I guess I was wrong :-)

[NonValueAdded]

Delusions of grandeur alert

[Paleo Conservative]

It’s a pretty poorly kept secret.

[advance_copy]

I hope he runs. He’ll take votes from the RAT.

[af_vet_rr]

Maybe he can team up with Texas Governor Rick Perry - Both Perry and Bloomberg are former Democrats who turned Republican, and both seem to be headed back towards their Democrat roots...

[Tx Angel]

ugh

[rocksblues]

Only if we can prove that he is not a Republican.

His voice when talking to the media may be enough!

[freemike]

I am not a smart man,, but I am smart enough to know this guy does not have a chance!

[saganite]

It’s amazing what money and ego can conjure up. Oh well, it’s Bloomberg’s money. If he needs this to massage his ego I don’t see how he’s going to draw from the Republican base. He’s counting on the “moderates” and his politics are closer to the Dems than Republicans so he’s going to hurt them more.

[darkangel82]

A centrist Bloomberg candidacy could seriously damage Hillary Clinton if she emerged as the Democratic nominee. But a conservative Republican nominee such as John McCain, Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson

Bloomberg a centrist? McCain and Romney conservative? What is this author on?

[Stoat]

ugh

"Suspecting that TX Angel is not the world's biggest Mike Bloomberg fan"

[livius]

That’s pretty scary. He bought himself the mayoralty (after having changed parties, of course, since the Dem field was full and no one wanted to vote for a Dem anyway) and I’m sure he’d be able to buy the presidential candidacy, too. Especially now that the WSJ has come out and told Republicans to “just get over it” on abortion. In other words, we’re just supposed to be Dems with a different name. So I don’t think this is quite as far-fetched as it seems, alas.

[Stoat]

Bloomberg a centrist? McCain and Romney conservative? What is this author on?

Our British Friends have a 'different' way of looking at things   :-)

[Paleo Conservative]

I think he would take away twice as many DemocRAT as Republican votes. He could possibly draw off enough votes in New York to cause the Republican candidate to carry New York.

[The Lumster]

Shades of Ross Perot!

Call me paranoid but I remember the last time a megalomaniacal billionaire ran as a third part candidate. Couldn’t get himself elected but we ended up with Clinton. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat.

[Stoat]

I am not a smart man,, ...

Not true!  You found your way past the swamps and viper-pits and made it to Free Republic....that counts for a lot   :-)

[rebelyell7]

You know, I might rather have him than Giuliani. Socially they’re pretty much six of one half a dozen of the other, but Bloomberg really does seem more competent and a more effective leader. He’s done a good job in NYC and he is good about taking responsibility for mistakes and failures that occur on his watch. Obviously he’s weak on all the issues Rudy is weak on, but then Giuliani is allegedly leading polls, so...

[Paleo Conservative]

If anything Bloomberg would sink the DemocRAT ticket.

[JohnLongIsland]

running on the country wide trans fat ban platform...

[SWAMPSNIPER]

“A recent poll gave Mr Bloomberg a 73 per cent approval rating among New Yorkers”.

---

Wow, I’m impressed, NooYawk has spoken! I will really try to give a damn, after I change the oil in the lawnmower, first things first!