Mayor Bloomberg Urges 2008 Hopefuls On

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, center, Diana Taylor, left, and Barbara Walters arrive at the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute 2006 Gold Medal Gala in New York, Wednesday, Nov.15, 2006. (AP Photo/Shiho Fukada) (Shiho Fukada - AP)

NEW YORK -- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday urged anyone contemplating a White House run to go for it.

"You don't want to sit around and say, 'I could have and I should have,'" Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show. "I'm a big believer in trying things _ if you want to do it, and if it doesn't work out, at least you'll know. You won't have that second-guessing thing that would nag you for the rest of your life."

The Democrat-turned-Republican and billionaire has been mentioned as a possible candidate in 2008, perhaps as an independent.

Asked whether Bloomberg might have been projecting his own doubts, spokesman Stu Loeser said: "The mayor is not running for president."

Bloomberg, 64, ticks off reasons ranging from personal _ "I'll be much too old" _ to practical _ "Running as an independent candidate would be a daunting thing."

Getting on the ballot as an independent is an extensive process involving complicated rules that vary from state to state. However, the former CEO wouldn't have to worry about raising money; Forbes magazine estimates his personal fortune at $5.3 billion.

Bloomberg said his predecessor, Rudy Giuliani, "was a very good mayor of this city ... wants to be president, would probably be a good president." He also noted the crowd of New Yorkers among the potential candidates, including Republican Gov. George Pataki and Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Clinton insists she's still mulling her next move, while Pataki has traveled extensively to the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Giuliani announced this week that he has launched an exploratory committee.