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]

But what about those folks that don’t want a socialist?
 

Well, I would hesitate to call Duncan Hunter a Socialist....hopefully he will gain momentum and greater name recognition soon.

[commonguymd]

This is just what Clinton is waiting for.

[Hardastarboard]

Delusions of grandeur alert

More like delusions of adequacy.

[Stoat]

This is just not going to be allowed by the Left. Bloomie would split the liberal vote with Hillary and that is exactly why the Dems will not allow it.

But who is going to be tapped to put the bloody horse's head in Mike's bed?  Having a sitdown with a sitting Mayor who happens to also be a multi-billionaire for the purpose of reading him the riot act is not something that I would necessarily volunteer for.

[Smokin' Joe]

So he has a lot of money. BFD. Let him go buy his own country and leave mine alone.

[Stoat]

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

If he touches my lasagna I'll be REALLY ticked off.

It seems that everything he's famous for in terms of policy have been the bans....the smoking ban, the trans-fat ban, the driving ban...

Like so many Leftists before him, he has built his policy credentials on the State forcibly preventing people from doing what they want and restricting their freedoms.

Does he really feel that America wants MORE of that?

Who is advising him?  A 'channeled' vision of Lenin?

[spanalot]

Will I need a note from my mom if I file for a tax extension? Or if I order a cheeseburger at McDonalds?

[PghBaldy]

Good point. Since he’s rich, he can’t be bought off with money, I wonder if the Dem candidate would offer him a Cabinet position to remove him from race?

[Stoat]

Will I need a note from my mom if I file for a tax extension? Or if I order a cheeseburger at McDonalds?

In the hellish and (thankfully) impossible nightmare of a Bloomberg Presidency, tax extensions would be irrelevant because the Government would have taken nearly all your money anyhow, and the McDonalds cheeseburger, in it's present form, would be unknown and unavailable for purchase anywhere.  In it's place would be a tofuburger and an Unhappy Meal featuring yogurt and a seaweed shake..

A black market for beef and firearms would develop, and Fox News would be shuttered for alleged "Hate Speech" violations.  Ann Coulter would escape to Australia where she would build a Resistance Movement to retake the country..

Welcome to the Miracle of your Socialist Future.

[nypokerface]

I heard about this months ago from a guy I know who works in Albany. He said it was a pretty sure bet Bloomberg was going to run. The only thing that was up in the air was what party he would run on. I guess we know now.

[Thunder90]

Hillary! vs Rudy! vs Bloomberg... What are we coming to, the ultimate three way subway series??? Keep NY politics OUT of the rest of the US.

[MHGinTN]

Little Perot prick syndrome. Bloomie is a liberal pig who actually wants the Rodham-rodent in the White HOuse.

[Thunder90]

Hillary V Rudy V Bloomberg-—Three peas in a pod.

[Stoat]

I heard about this months ago

That's why I didn't post it to Breaking News   :-)

 The only thing that was up in the air was what party he would run on. I guess we know now.

And it's the letdown that most of us expected.  Too bad he didn't choose the Dems in order to give That Woman a few more grey hairs and wrinkles, but this will still suck a few votes from the Dems so it's not all bad.

[Theodore R.]

Remember John V. Lindsay! People once believed in him too.

[Theodore R.]

And don’t forget OR and WA might warm to a Bloomberg too.

[mo]

Hmmm...he and Hillarhea!! must have a thing going...

[InterceptPoint]

You should recall that Bill Clinton would not have won the 1992 election without the third party candidacy of Ross Perot (of giant sucking sound fame.)

It has been rumored for years that the Clintons made a deal with Perot as part of their ultimately successful strategy to win the White House. Surely, our memory is not so short as to fall for that trick again (and against yet another Clinton!)

[Memphis Moe]

Let’s see. Bloomberg gets 33% of the NY popular vote, Hill/Obama 33%, and Newt or whomever, 34%.

Ladies and gentlemen, New York’s 29 electoral votes go to the Republican column.

[Mr. Silverback]

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

Almost certainly.