Bloomberg bails on Independents Day

Last Modified: 20 Jun 2007
By: Felicity Spector

OK, it's nearly 4 July - maybe it's time for a little independence.

He was always known as a RINO - Republican In Name Only. Now he's ditched the party altogether and registered his unaffiliated status - in a move widely seen as a sign that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be running for President in 2008.

He was always known as a RINO - Republican In Name Only. Now he's ditched the party altogether and registered his unaffiliated status - in a move widely seen as a sign that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be running for President in 2008.

"Good ideas", he said, "should take precedence over rigid adherence to any particular political ideology.¿

He's already declared - in his biography a decade ago - that he thinks he'd make a good President. He sees himself as something of a 'man of destiny'. And most pointedly, he met with two key strategists last summer - close friend and political insider Michael Steinhardt and Democratic Leadership Council chief Al From - to discuss the viability of a White House run.

"What chance does a five-foot-seven Jew who's divorced really have?" he asked. Well, clearly the numbers are now right on the money.

'What chance does a five-foot-seven Jew who's divorced really have?'
Michael Bloomberg

And money is half the battle. Bloomberg is, in the words of one aide - "worth a zillion-billion dollars". He spent a record $85m on his New York race in 2005. He could easily afford the half-billion or so it would take to run a nationwide campaign.

And - in a race where there's no clear front runner on either side - maybe it looks as if there might just be room for a man whose politics are straight down the centre.

Bloomberg quit the Democrats back in 2000 - but still hangs on to a number of liberal views.

He's for abortion rights and gun control - and brought in bans on smoking and transfats in New York that to many Republicans, smacked of the nanny state. But he's also conservative on issues like public spending, welfare and education reforms.

Maybe this is the kind of man who mirrors the polarisation of America.

So Mayor Bloomberg has been off his home turf of New York and in California this week - side by side with that other political maverick Arnie Schwarzenegger - who, by the way, let it be known that he thought the Mayor would make "a great candidate".

He's been delivering what sound like campaign speeches - calling Washington "a swamp of dysfunction" - and saying America's 'really in trouble' ranging from the Iraq war to health care.

Next there are plans to travel further afield to see how his centrist ideas are received, with a chance to address nationwide issues like immigration and global warming.

Mr Bloomberg has already proved an effective - and popular Mayor of New York, although his record is by no means perfect.

But there are already two other New Yorkers with their eyes on the White House Prize - the city's former Mayor Rudi Giuliani and Senator Hillary Clinton. Can the race really cope with a third?

Then there's the whole problem with independents or third party candidates. They just don't win.