Bloomberg may enter presidential race

CNN

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will decide by early March whether or not he will join the presidential race as an independent, said a source close the mayor.  

Mayor Bloomberg stated, numerous times, he did not plan on running for president in 2008. However, the mayor is now starting to research the market to see if an independent candidate could win, said the source.

"We even have two people from New York who are candidates for president of the United States," said Bloomberg in the past. "I'm not sure the state needs a third.''

Bloomberg recently attended a bipartisan forum in Norman, Okla., called together to discuss the presidential race.

"We might have to have some shock therapy with an independent candidacy,'' said David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma  and former U.S. senator.

Bloomberg, who has been both a democrat and a republican and is now an independent, had a similar message.

"What we want to do is get the partisanship out of politics and get the special interests out,'' he said.

Bloomberg, like Ross Perot, is rich enough to finance his own campaign.  Perot got nearly 20 percent of the vote in 1992, but he didn't carry a single state. Bloomberg may have better prospects for winning.

The democratic and republican candidates elected after the primaries may not have enough appeal to unite the entire country. If the candidates are divisive candidates with highly partisan support there could be some room in the center for a Bloomberg candidacy. Waiting until March gives Bloomberg time to weigh himself against the elected nominees.

"We could well know by February 5 who the two nominees are.  That's the time then to ask your question,'' said Gary Hart, former democratic presidential candidate.