Clinton, Sanders Both Confident as Bloomberg Mulls Presidential Run

The Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent is actively exploring a run, hiring consultants and commissioning a poll last month aimed at seeing whether there is an appetite for a third party candidate, a source familiar with Bloomberg’s plans told NPR.

Sanders also spoke Sunday on Bloomberg’s possible candidacy, saying he’ll win if Bloomberg enters the race.

He was prompted to consider one seriously because of the way the primary campaigns have progressed-with Donald Trump and Ted Cruz dominating the G.O.P. race, and Bernie Sanders gaining ground on Hillary Clinton. He told NBC he would love to face Bloomberg in the general election.

In what would be a very interesting development, it looks like Michael Bloomberg is seriously looking into running for president this election.

Trump noted that he and Bloomberg had differences on the issues of gun control and abortion and that he would love to run against him.

Bloomberg, the billionaire and former NY mayor, is considering making an independent bid for the presidency, a move that could mark yet another wild turn in a 2016 race that has already seen more than its share of them.

In an interview with Meet The Press on Sunday, the Democratic presidential candidate said that Bloomberg’s recent flirtation with an independent run in order to keep the presidency out of the hands of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and Sen.

This isn’t the first time Bloomberg has considered running for president. Clinton has been dogged by questions about her honesty amid an ongoing investigation into her use of a private email server as secretary of state.

The two-term former mayor, who governed with a middle-of-the-road philosophy of social liberalism and low-tax conservatism, has struggled to gain political traction since leaving office in 2013.

He did, however, praise him as a “good mayor”.

He has set a March deadline to decide on whether to enter the race, believing that doing so any later would not allow him access to the ballot in all 50 states, they said.

Sen. Marco Rubio downplayed Bloomberg’s potential bid as just talk.

“If he splits the Democrat vote – those for gun control – that might be good for Republicans”, Paul told reporters.

Representatives for Bloomberg declined to comment on the former mayor’s plans for the presidential race.

A Fox News poll released Sunday indicated Trump has 34 percent support among likely Republican Iowa caucus-goers little more than a week before the voting begins, compared to 23 percent for Cruz.

Though Bloomberg’s criticism of Clinton is a bit too strong, the spirit of his views is accurate.