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That's because Bloomberg used to be a Republican, I guess.

Truthfully, without knowing who the nominees are going to be, and what Bloomberg's platform is going to be, it's hard to say.

As far as his platform, he's certainly done his damnedest to ride the fence on Iraq and avoid taking any position on the war itself, beyond saying that our leaders need to "work together" to "bring the troops home." He's opposed a timetable, though, so he'd probably be a moderately pro-victory candidate. On health care, he sounds a great deal like Huckabee with his focus on government-promoted preventative measures. He's adamantly pro-choice and pro-gun control.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize that he sounds a lot like a pro-choice, pro-gun control version of Mike Huckabee. Which would make him a Democrat, probably of the DLC, Bill Clinton wing of the party.

With Hillary as the Democrat nominee and anyone but Huckabee or Paul as the Republican, I think Bloomberg probably hurts Hillary more. I don't say this about many Republicans (or ex-Republicans), but he's essentially Hillary-lite without the ghoulish personality. People who support Clinton-era policies but personally dislike Hillary will find a lot to like in Bloomberg.

Also, the Republican base will probably not be split by Bloomberg like it was split by Perot. He's a social liberal and he lacks Perot's populist message. While he shares many of Huckabee's populist policies, he lacks Huckabee's populist touch.

I also think Bloomberg will make a more moderate Republican nominee, like Giuliani or McCain, look a lot more palatable to the conservative base by comparison. For example, while Giuliani and Bloomberg are both pro-choice, Giuliani has called for originalist judges, while Bloomberg has said "you're either with us or against us" in defending "women's rights."

Finally, I'm not convinced Bloomberg will really gain much of the vote unless one or both of the major party nominees is highly unpopular. He'll probably poll somewhere between Perot and Nader territory, in the high single digits. Since I don't think he has any clear appeal to Republicans outside traditional Democrat states anyway, I think the most he'll do for the Democrats is possibly keep someone like Giuliani from picking off any coastal blue states.