Using your scenario, who would Rudy pick to be his V.P. if he did end up going the third political party route? Would Bloomberg also be separately running as an Independent candidate for President as well? Do both the Constitution Party and the Libertarian Party have a chance to improve upon both their support and their total number of votes for each and every candidate running for political office from both of those two political parties? It truly isn’t that often that the Presidential race is for an open seat so anything is truly possible up to November 4, 2008. I don’t see Rudy ever running as a third party candidate for anything, because doing so is usually a “death knell” politically for any future chances of serious political victory. Just ask former New Hampshire Republican Senator Bob Smith if his Independent run for President was a mistake.
Rudy could hurt republicans if he ran as an indie and picked someone (anyone) slightly more conservative than himself. Someone like: Hagel.
Rudy could hurt dem’s by selecting (long shot) Evan Bayh as a running mate.