Posted on 01/23/2016 6:54:19 AM PST by Drew68
Galled by Donald J. Trump's dominance of the Republican field, and troubled by Hillary Clinton's stumbles and the rise of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on the Democratic side, Michael R. Bloomberg has instructed advisers to draw up plans for an independent campaign in this year's presidential race.
Mr. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, has in the past contemplated running for the White House on a third-party ticket, but always concluded he could not win. A confluence of unlikely events in the 2016 election, however, has given new impetus to his presidential aspirations.
Mr. Bloomberg, 73, has already taken concrete steps toward a possible campaign, and has indicated to friends and allies that he would be willing to spend at least $1 billion of his fortune on it, according to people briefed on his deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his plans. He has set a deadline for making a final decision in early March, the latest point at which advisers believe Mr. Bloomberg could enter the race and still qualify to appear as an independent candidate on the ballot in all 50 states.
He has retained a consultant to help him explore getting his name on those ballots, and his aides have done a detailed study of past third-party bids. Mr. Bloomberg commissioned a poll in December to see how he might fare against Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton, and he intends to conduct another round of polling after the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 9 to gauge whether there is indeed an opening for him, according to two people familiar with his intentions.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Bloomberg!
(C'mon. Do you really think Trump's blue-collar crowds are going to vote for some shriveled New York antediluvian gun-grabbing queen?)
Go for it, bud.
blood in the water and the sharks are starting to circle.
Doooo it, dooooo it.
They voted for Bloomberg for mayor.
Boom!
In a three-way with Donald and Bernie, an independent Bloomberg run could be viable.
Yeah, he could get the NYC vote perhaps??
...Mayor.
Of New York City.
This is not indicative a national trend.
He won’t be beholden to the special interests. He’s rich so that means he obviously would be great for the economy.
Excellent points! He’s got my vote!
I wish that Bloomberg had run as a Democrat. Hillary would be polling at three percent like Yeb.
The fact that Sanders is polling above one percent proves how desperate that the Democrats are to vote for anyone other than Hillary.
New York values?
That's what I'm thinking.
Bloomingidiot should take over the democrap ticket. He’s as much a puppet of the oligarchs as Hillary and not quite as bad a commie as Bernie.
It might distract him from some of his gun-ban activity.
We could have three New Yorkers contending in the fall.
So two AVOWED GUN GRABBERS against Trump.
I’ll take that match up.
Note that Trump countered with Palin's endorsement.
Look at the poll numbers: that tells you whose publicity tactics are effective.
The problem is, the GOPe irrevocably destroyed both the reputation of the Republican brand, *and* the trust that "vote GOP and we'll stop Obama."
Boehner and McConnell (and now Ryan) didn't do a thing except lube up and then swallow for Obama.
So the frenzied "Oh, stop, stop, if you don't vote in the GOPe guy, the libs will WIN!" won't work: because Obama already pushed through Obamacare and is de facto allowing amnesty in violation of court orders, and is importing masses of terrorists Syrian refugees.
Allowing Obama to fundamentally transform America.
So the GOPe is complicit.
Trump might not be a conservative. But right now we are literally fighting for national survival.
And Trump loves America, and wants America pre-eminent in the world again.
Nice try, though.
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