Today is primary day and 3.5 million Flori

Friday, August 18, 2006

New York: Bloomberg would have to run for President as an independent...



From Henry J. Stern in the New York Sun:
...Mr. Bloomberg faces the same issue he did in his mayoral race: in which party should he compete. When he ran in New York City, he took over the moribund Republican Party and used it as his political base. Six years later, the Republicans have not gained strength here. In fact, for the last two elections they did not even offer a candidate for comptroller or public advocate. The mayor, however, was twice elected on the Republican line, with the support of the Independence Party, claimed to have been cleansed of its radicals, and in 2005 the Liberal Party, who were enabled to qualify by Bloomberg volunteers.

For 2008 the Democratic and Republican nominations appear to be pretty well sewed up by existing contenders or by other party regulars, so Mr. Bloomberg's candidacy would have to be on an independent line. It is not impossible to qualify for the ballot. Ross Perot did it in all 50 states in 1992 and 1996, polling a remarkable 19,743,821 votes, or 18.9% of the total, the highest vote ever for a third party candidate. Many Perot votes were from people who were dissatisfied with both Bush the first and Bill Clinton. More Perotians are considered to have been Bush supporters than Clintonistas, so his candidacy was instrumental, if not decisive, in Mr. Clinton's victory with 43% of the vote.... [link]

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