Opinions Do Not Reflect Those of the Management

New York mayor and purely theoretical presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg: Will he or won't he? (By Mario Tama -- Getty Images)

Then Bloomberg, with his private-sector and mayoral experience, along with his moderate views, could step forward. "The rationale for his running," said election expert Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, applies "if you have candidates on the ballot who are on the wings or people without experience" in foreign policy or governance. Perhaps something like a Mike Huckabee- John Edwards contest.

"But it's entirely possible we're not going to know the candidates until it's too late" for Bloomberg to use that rationale, Ornstein said. It's looking now as though the Republicans and maybe even the Democrats may go all the way to the conventions in August before choosing a nominee.

If Bloomberg were to run, he would have to gather enough petitions to get his name on the state ballots. Texas and several other states allow you to start getting petitions on March 5. Bloomberg, given his bottomless pockets, would have enough money to begin later than most candidates, but he'd have to be on state ballots by around the end of April, Ornstein noted.

The perceived wisdom is that Bloomberg will not run unless he thinks he has a serious chance of winning. In some matchups he might. In a John McCain- Barack Obama or a McCain- Hillary Clinton race, it's most unlikely.

While Bloomberg continues playing Hamlet, some people close to him think they may have picked up clues that he will run.

"He used to say he's a 5-foot-6-inch Jew," said former New York mayor Ed Koch, "and now he says he is 5-foot-7 -- though he continues to be Jewish."

If he adds one more inch . . .

The Primary Problem

Meanwhile, there are moves afoot on the Hill to try to do something about the expensive and ever-earlier primary lunacy.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), backed by Sen. Lamar! Alexander (Tenn.), a former GOP presidential candidate, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), a former Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidate, introduced a bill to move the primaries from January to March. The measure would keep Iowa and New Hampshire in the lead but then would shift to four regional primaries, ending in early June.

There's a question as to whether the Constitution bars Congress from enacting such legislation, but supporters say they've got an important 1981 article by a former law professor when the inevitable legal challenge reaches the Supreme Court.

"Congress must have at least authority to specify the dates of primaries," wrote the professor, now Justice Antonin Scalia.

So now if we don't like the way the primaries are conducted, we can blame Congress.