In a surprise announcement this week, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) took a step toward a possible 2008 Presidential run when he renounced his affiliation with the Republican Party and declared himself an Independent.
Formerly a long-time Democrat, Bloomberg made a politically expedient move to the Republican Party in advance of the 2001 New York City Mayoral election, not because of changing political convictions, but to have a better chance of victory on the less crowded GOP ticket.
With little use left for the Republicans, it appears the Mayor now figures to make political hay in the field of lesser-known Independent Party candidates. While he continues to deny any plans for a presidential run, the party-hopping Mayor refuses to rule it out.
And if he throws his hat in the presidential ring, Bloomberg is purportedly ready to throw up to a billion dollars of his vast personal fortune into the campaign!
Among the vehemently anti-gun Mayor’s most recent blunders was an attack on the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)—the world’s largest association of law enforcement officers—calling the FOP a “fringe organization” because they refused to get behind his aggressive and misguided gun-control agenda.
Bloomberg says he won’t run unless he can win. Let’s hope he can’t.