Sanders, Clinton dismiss Bloomberg threat

Anthony Weiner, a former Congressman and New York City mayoral candidate, told the Daily Beast that he believes in Bloomberg’s chances – provided he’s facing Trump or Cruz as the Republican candidates and Sanders on the Democrat side.

Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders says he is not happy over the possibility of another wealthy presidential contender.

Real-estate developer Donald Trump repeatedly said over the weekend that he would “love” for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) to enter the 2016 fray.

People familiar with his plans said Bloomberg is taking preliminary steps toward an independent run and has set a March deadline for the decision.

Success by Clinton at the polls won’t necessarily stop Bloomberg from running, a source close to the former mayor said Sunday.

Bloomberg, who weighed a presidential run once before in 2008, is upset with both Trump and Clinton, where Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders could quite possibly win the first two Democratic contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The news immediately sparked concerns amongst some pundits that as a presidential hopeful, Michael Bloomberg is likely to split the Democratic vote which will play in favor of Donald Trump. Trump would have to triumph over his Republican rivals.

Card, who served as chief of staff to former president George W. Bush, said launching a successful independent bid would be unlikely.

“I think the American people do not want to see our nation move toward an oligarchy, where billionaires control the political process”.

Religious voters are a big factor in the Republican caucuses in Iowa, and Trump is working to build his appeal among them, especially considering that Cruz is the son of a conservative evangelical preacher and has strong support among evangelicals in the Midwestern state. He is very opposite from me on guns and pro-life…. I love the competition. In December, he commissioned a poll to investigate how he’d fare in a three-way race against Clinton and Trump, but the poll’s results haven’t been released.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, declined to weigh in on a potential Bloomberg candidacy.

Bloomberg has considered running as an independent before – in fact, he took a look at it a few months ago – but he has previously concluded the odds were stacked too high against an independent candidate. Bloomberg was elected mayor of NY as a Republican, but later became a political independent.

Mr Trump, 69, said: “I would love it. I know Michael very well, I’d love to compete against Michael”. I don’t know if he’s going to do it but I hope he does.