Mayor Mike's Move

I'm still not convinced that Mike Bloomberg is running for president.

After all, he was always a RINO -- that is, a lifelong Democrat who became a Republican In Name Only because otherwise he couldn't have gotten the mayoral nomination in 2001 -- so for him to abandon the party after twice using its ballot line is not exactly shocking.

Plus, he's on the cover of Time this week with Arnold Schwarzenegger, celebrated as an independent-minded pol who's not bound by party orthodoxy and gets things done in a pragmatic way. The press loooves independents who aren't named Ross Perot, particularly those who are seen rising above the partisan Washington gridlock. And being mayor in the nation's media capital doesn't hurt.

But I think 2008 figured into the calculations of the Bloomberg News founder in this way: At the moment, he's a term-limited lame duck, with a Democrat in Albany closing off that option. He knows that as a prospective White House contender, he draws a lot more media interest and gets to play on the national stage, as he's increasingly been doing. The more he protests he's not running, the more the pundits speculate.

Now if Bloomberg, with his huge fortune, did jump into the race, he could clearly have an impact on both parties. So the political reporters will have a great time handicapping his prospects for a third-party run. And it's in his interest to do the exploratory thing.

(Can you imagine three New Yorkers in the race, Hillary vs. Rudy vs. Bloomy? It would be like a Yankees-Mets World Series and a Jets-Giants Super Bowl rolled into one. And by the way, it would be an act of ingratitude toward Giuliani, whose post-9/11 endorsement of Mike was arguably as important as his mega-spending in powering his come-from-behind win.)

Bloomberg has one heckuva record in the Apple, and he's done it without the polarization that surrounded Giuliani's mayoralty. Which is why Time gushes: Bloomberg is leading a national crackdown on illegal guns, along with America's biggest affordable-housing program. He also enacted America's most draconian smoking ban and the first big-city trans-fat ban. And he's so concerned about Washington's neglect of the working poor that he's raised $50 million in private money, including some of his own millions, to fund a pilot workfare program . . . there is an obvious appeal to a businessman who can work across party lines to get things done -- and could drop $500 million on a campaign without even noticing it was gone.

Time even says there's no bar to Arnold running as his veep.

But keep in mind that Bloomberg is a soporific speaker, which matters on the campaign trail. And he's the one who keeps saying that America probably isn't ready for a short, divorced, Jewish billionaire.

Let's go to the New York papers, starting with the Times:

"Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced Tuesday that he was dropping his Republican affiliation, a step that could clear the way for him to make an independent bid for the presidency . . .

"Even as Mr. Bloomberg continues to insist that he has no plans to run for president, his announcement has set off a storm of interest in political circles across the country, where it is being viewed as a signal of his serious contemplation of a campaign. His ability to self-finance a campaign presents him with obvious advantages, including the option of delaying even until next year a decision on whether to run.