‘I Would Love To See Michael Bloomberg Run’

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is seriously considering a possible independent presidential run and is looking at making a decision sometime in March, two sources familiar with Bloomberg’s thinking told CNN on Saturday.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is considering a presidential bid for 2016. Bloomberg spent tens of millions in an unsuccessful bid to toughen the nation’s gun control laws in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut, school shootings and many gun rights activists claim his name alone created a backlash that helped sink his cause.

Aides are preparing a plan, and Bloomberg set a deadline of early March for a decision, the Times said.

Instead, Bloomberg would likely run as an independent candidate (he switched party affiliation Republican to independent in 2007).

The source added that Bloomberg sees the Republican and Democratic presidential races as becoming increasingly polarized, and neither fits Bloomberg’s views.

A Bloomberg adviser, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Times the former mayor sincerely believes voters want “a non-ideological, bipartisan, results-oriented vision”, which he is convinced is an option that has not been offered by any of the candidates from either party.

But in an interview with ABC News that aired last weekend, Trump said he would welcome a presidential campaign by Bloomberg, whom he called “a friend” and “a great guy”. He has closed the gap with her in polls out of Iowa, and who enjoys a comfortable lead in New Hampshire. With Bernie Sanders, who regularly attacks opponent Hillary Clinton for her Wall Street connections, doing better than expected in both Iowa and New Hampshire, Bloomberg knows his background could be a liability as well as a benefit.

People close to Bloomberg say he feels that Clinton had taken some wrong steps in the race for the White House and is said to have taken a step in the direction of the left.

It’s not clear he cares, despite the fact that he has had a strong working relationship with Clinton and once encouraged her to succeed him as mayor of New York City. Though the initial consensus was Cruz went too far in the most recent debate when he criticized Trump for his “New York values”, it was a consensus more driven by the media than by the electorate.

Donovan said he could consider supporting Bloomberg, depending on how the rest of the race develops.