Bloomberg mulls run for White House, report says

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg – a onetime moderate Republican – is considering throwing $1 billion of his vast fortune into an independent, stop-Donald Trump bid for president, The New York Times reported Saturday. The $250 million he spent on his mayor races is the most anyone’s ever spent on their own elections in US history.

The Republican-turned-independent sees a potential opening should Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders – who is surging in polls – win their parties’ nominations, the sources said.

Trump, the blustery billionaire with no previous political experience, remains the leader for the Republic nod with the first primaries coming in February. Bloomberg has told allies he would likely mount a bid if either Trump or Texas Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race.

It was during the 2008 presidential cycle that he openly flirted with the idea of launching an independent candidacy for president.

In other words, if you are Michael Bloomberg: If the GOP and Democrats are fielding weak candidates, a third party run becomes viable.

Bloomberg, who had earlier served three terms as NY mayor, has tentatively set a March deadline to take a final call on his entering the race for the presidency. However, the person is quoted as saying, “It’s gone from idle chit-chat, to ‘let’s take a real look'”.

“If Hillary wins the nomination, Hillary is mainstream enough that Mike would have no chance, and Mike’s not going to go on a suicide mission”, Democrat and former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a friend of the former mayor, told the Times. According to sources close to the politician and media mogul, he “sees the Republican and Democratic presidential races as becoming increasingly polarized, and neither fits Bloomberg’s views”.

In New York City, Bloomberg was known for large-scale rezoning efforts that fueled a real-estate booms, building a more bike-and-pedestrian city, and an overhaul of the city schools.

At the New Hampshire Republican Party “First in the Nation Presidential Town Hall” in Nashua, Senator Rand Paul, who is lagging badly in opinion polls, seemed unfazed by the possibility of a Bloomberg third-party run. “So maybe he splits some of the gun control vote with the Democrats and maybe he hurts the Democrats”.