Donald Trump has obviously shaken up the political landscape. Now that politicians can clearly see the American people are sick and tired of the games they play that don’t benefit the people, more people are considering a run at the Presidency.
It has been awhile since I was a third-party candidate running for president but it seems the 2016 presidential election could see another. Back in 1980, John Anderson ran, and in 1992 it was Ross Perot. On Friday, it appeared that former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg was thinking about running as an independent.
Insiders say that the only reason Bloomberg is considering this is that he has been alarmed by the rise of Donald Trump on the conservative side and the rise of Bernie Sanders on the Democrat side. Both of these two men have blown away their other rivals. Like Donald Trump, Michael Bloomberg has a lot of personal money at his disposal, and it is said he may put $1 billion into the bid for the presidency.
According to the New York Times, this is not Bloomberg’s first time considering a presidential run. In the past, he eventually concluded that he could not win the presidency, but this time, with the conservative front runner being Donald Trump, he may think he can win, possibly picking up people looking for the middle ground.
Michael Bloomberg owns the financial services and news company that bears his name, and he is used to spending money on political campaigns. For example in 2009, the Times reported that he spent $250 million on his three campaigns for mayor.
Bloomberg is now 73, so it is probably now or never, and it is said that he has set a personal deadline for taking the plunge. A number of sources say he will make a decision by early March. Apparently his advisers believe he could still qualify on the ballot in all 50 states as an independent.
One thing against Bloomberg is the fact that an independent has never won a U.S. presidential election. Obviously referring to both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, an unnamed Bloomberg adviser told the New York Times the former mayor believes voters want “a non-ideological, bipartisan, results-oriented vision.” Neither of the major parties is offering that.
According to former Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell, a past Democratic National Committee chairman, one thing that may stop Bloomberg getting into the race is if Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination. Obviously Bloomberg only wants to compete against Trump and Sanders. He said, “Mike Bloomberg for president rests on the not-impossible but somewhat unlikely circumstance of either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz versus Bernie Sanders. If Hillary wins the nomination, Hillary is mainstream enough that Mike would have no chance, and Mike’s not going to go on a suicide mission.”
It seems that Bloomberg has been having a dollar each way in the political arena. He has previously been registered as a Republican, an independent and now he is registered as a Democrat. His policies are obviously a mixed bag, advocating for gun control, abortion, and immigration reform. In their report, the New York Times said Bloomberg supports most Democrat social policies but he supports the financial services industry, and he backs aggressive policing policies.
