Buoyed by the still unsettled field, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is growing increasingly enchanted with the idea of an independent presidential bid, and his aides are aggressively laying the groundwork for him to run.
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Former Senator David L. Boren of Oklahoma, who organized the session with former Senator Sam Nunn, a Democrat of Georgia, suggested in an interview that if the prospective major party nominees failed within two months to formally embrace bipartisanship and address the fundamental challenges facing the nation, "I would be among those who would urge Mr. Bloomberg to very seriously consider running for president as an independent."
Well, you know that in this day and age "bipartisan" is shorthand for "come over and let me ass-fuck you, lube optional"...so I'm not quite sure what the Boren/Nunn point is. I guess what they are pining for is the ex-senator fantasy equivalent of that mythical 50's land the republicans all dream of where every kid was Beaver Cleaver and every parent Ozzie and Harriet.
But, as the infomercials say, Wait! There's More!!
Bloomberg aides have studied the process for starting independent campaigns, which formally begins March 5, when third-party candidates can begin circulating nominating petitions in Texas. If Democrats and Republicans have settled on their presumptive nominees at that point, Mr. Bloomberg will have to decide whether he believes those candidates are vulnerable to a challenge from a pragmatic, progressive centrist, which is how he would promote himself.
Now, if memory serves, the last two times there were "third party" candidates, they were spoilers in the race, once for each party... I doubt Bloomberg would be displaying colorful charts and graphs and railing against NAFTA, nor would he be an arrogant asshole like St. Ralphie... knowing he was hurting the one guy he should have helped. (Thanks again, Ralph!)
A truly funny thing would be a Bloomberg candidacy if Giulani is the republican presumptive nominee... I could see it in a debate..."excuse ME, Mr. Giuliani, but these receipts are from the Loft Board, and these pictures are of potholes filled with the ashes from Ground Zero". I'd pay money to see that...
