Bloomberg Getting On The Ballots Anyway?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, 3rd Party, Bloomberg, United States
Looks like my previous post applies less to Ron Paul and more to Michael Bloomberg.
NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Bloomberg may soon begin a massive operation to get on the ballot in up to 15 states even though the billionaire mayor may not decide until May whether to run for president, according to associates.Despite John McCain’s widening lead in the Republican race, an imminent ballot deadline for third-parties in Texas and a recently expanded denial of interest from Bloomberg himself, these associates say the mayor and his operatives are actively laying necessary groundwork for an independent campaign and are in no hurry to decide whether or not to run.
Bloomberg’s political operatives have spent several months assembling the skeleton of a nationwide ballot-access movement, one confidant of the mayor told The Associated Press.
Well, it’s not like he doesn’t have the money for it. And since it has yet to be decided who will win the Dem nomination, Bloomberg’s move makes sense if Hillary becomes the nominee…
And Bloomberg’s 50-state analysis of voter attitudes and information – first reported last month by The Associated Press – has shown encouraging results, Schoen said.The examination of voter information indicated that between 30 to 40 percent of the electorate is open to the idea of a third-party candidate, he said.
State ballot rules vary greatly: Some require little more than a small fee while others ask for specific numbers of signatures from registered voters, which can only be collected at certain times.
Bloomberg’s camp has already concluded its study of ballot access in Texas. The deadline to get on the ballot there is May 12, but petitioners cannot begin collecting signatures until after the state’s March 4 major party primary.
But what about McCain? Does Bloomberg really think that independents will abandon him? I guess an argument can be made that McCain is a very “establishment” type of candidate, so that could be Bloomberg’s gambit.
I guess we’ll see.
This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, 3rd Party, Bloomberg, United States. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 13th, 2008 at 2:10 am
[...] last straw to grasp, is the possibility of a Hagel/Bloomberg presidential effort to replace the dying GOP (more in a future post). There is no historical precedent for a successful [...]