(UPDATE: Both campaigns rejected the offer because they don’t want to limit it to just one network. Hmmm…)
Now this is a pretty brilliant move…
The guy who has some of the deepest pockets in the world, and could be a VP for either candidate, wants to use that leverage.
From Politico:
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and [...]

As previously reported, John McCain may be considering New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for the vice president spot. One issue: he may be on Barack Obama’s list as well.
The very fact that the exact same man is possibly being considered by both the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees tells us that both sides’ attempts [...]

I seriously doubt that McCain would pick Bloomberg, given his many liberal stances.
Still, NY Mag speculates that he’s being actively courted by Arizona senator:
The morning before John McCain’s sprightly turn on Saturday Night Live on May 17, the de facto GOP presidential nominee had breakfast at Sarabeth’s on Central Park South with Michael Bloomberg and [...]

He’s arguably THE most business savvy politician ever, and here’s his opinion on the Clinton/McCain proposal…
“It’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard in an awful long time from an economic point of view. I don’t understand why you think there’s any merit to it whatsoever. We’re trying to discourage people from driving and we’re trying [...]

Well, looks like Bloomberg keeps popping up in the conversation…
From NY1:
In an interview on “Inside City Hall” Friday night, Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey promoted the idea of an Obama-Bloomberg presidential ticket – and revealed that Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke Thursday with the Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama.
“Certainly you could joke that Obama’s call was [...]

I wonder what Doug Bailey and Gerald Rashfoon are gonna do now?
From MSNBC:
NEW YORK - After two years of playing coy about his presidential ambitions, Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared in a newspaper editorial Wednesday that he will not run for president as an independent and said he might support the candidate who “takes an [...]

for the current incarnation of the Republican Party, it is all over. The only remaining suspense is to see what Alien-like creature of hell will erupt through the GOP chest cavity as it convulses in its final death throes.

Looks like my previous post applies less to Ron Paul and more to Michael Bloomberg.
From GazetteXtra:
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 [...]

What about both of them?
Rasmussen has the numbers…
Twenty-six percent (26%) of American voters believe New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is at least somewhat likely to make a third-party or independent bid for the White House in 2008. That includes 5% who say he is Very Likely to do so.
Twenty-nine percent (29%) say that Texas [...]

You been to Draft Bloomberg yet? It’s a very slick site with the sole purpose of getting you to embed a widget that gathers signatures to urge Bloomberg to run. Right now they have just a little over 2,000. What’s more, former Unity08 co-founders, Gerald Rashfoon and Doug Bailey are behind it. Now, it’s no [...]

The Edwards campaign latest justification for remaining in the race is that John Edwards is the ONLY electable Democratic candidate (as opposed to a similar but very different argument that Edwards is more electable than the other candidates). The campaign started making this argument after Iowa and has expanded on it ever since. Recently, [...]

Discuss…

It seems obvious now, that from the beginning Unity08 was indeed a Mike Bloomberg stalking horse, funded and staffed by Bloomberg loyalists. They couldn’t pull off the Bloomberg run within the Unity08 structure, so they suddenly close up shop to make room for the imminent Bloomberg Independent candidacy, redirecting management and money resources to the impending campaign.

I think I’ve figured it out. Simply put he’s waiting to see who the nominees are. By that I mean that his candidacy wouldn’t have the same traction in an Obama vs McCain race as it would in a Clinton vs Romney or Giuliani race.
x-posted

Well, that’s the rumor at least…
From NY Daily News:
A source familiar with the Bloomberg for president movement says the bipartisan Unity08 effort is poised to shut down its Web site, reconstitute as a Draft Bloomberg site and launch its own 50-state signature-gathering operation on behalf of the supposedly reluctant would-be independent presidential candidate.
This move has [...]

One word: Obama.
From NY Times:
He arrived here for what seemed like it could be a big moment. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, eyeing a third-party presidential bid, joined Republican and Democratic elders at a forum to denounce the extreme partisanship of Washington and plot how to influence the campaign.
But even as the mayor gathered on Monday [...]

Because if all he’s saying is the following, that’s the reason Obama is pulling ahead in the first place.
From AP:
Amid talk about Washington riven by partisanship, Bloomberg gathered with Democrats and Republicans — some current elected officials, others out of office for years — to discuss bridging the divide between the parties. The summit came [...]

From NPR:
Some big names in politics — Republicans, Democrats and Independents — are getting together to talk about the possible need for a third-party candidate in the presidential election this year.
Former Sen. Sam Nunn and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are among the people attending the conference. Another is former Sen. David Boren, who [...]

This time he was asked by… wait for it… Ryan Seacrest of American Idol fame on… wait for it… Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
Yes, it’s silly, but it means a Bloomberg independent run is starting to get into the national zeitgeist, and if he does want to run stuff like this is important. Seacrest [...]

The Dems don’t seem to be too hot on the likelihood of Bloomberg running this year. Especially NY Times economist Paul Krugman…
Seriously, why does anyone think this makes sense? I read a lot of polls, and they suggest that the center of public opinion on the issues is, if anything, left of the center [...]