Although the Washington Times is not known for its accurate reporting, there’s this:
New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is prepared to spend an unprecedented $1 billion of his own $5.5 billion personal fortune for a third-party presidential campaign, personal friends of the mayor tell The Washington Times.
“He has set aside $1 billion to go for it,” confided a long-time business adviser to the Republican mayor. “The thinking about where it will come from and do we have it is over, and the answer is yes, we can do it.”
Another personal friend and fellow Republican said in recent days that Mr. Bloomberg, who is a social liberal and fiscal conservative, has “lowered the bar” and upped the ante for a final decision on making a run.
The mayor has told close associates he will make a third-party run if he thinks he can influence the national debate and has said he will spend up to $1 billion. Earlier, he told friends he would make a run only if he thought he could win a plurality in a three-way race and would spend $500 million — or less than 10 percent of his personal fortune.
A $1 billion campaign budget would wipe out many of the common obstacles faced by third-party candidates seeking the White House.
“Bloomberg is H. Ross Perot on steroids,” said former Federal Election Commission Chairman Michael Toner. “He could turn the political landscape of this election upside down, spend as much money as he wanted and proceed directly to the general election. He would have resources to hire an army of petition-gatherers in those states where thousands of petitions are required to qualify a third-party presidential candidate to be on the ballot.”
Senior Republican officials — including those supporting declared Republican presidential nomination contenders — and several top Democrats told The Times they take the possibility of a Bloomberg candidacy as a serious threat in November 2008.
Ah, it would make for a New York state of mind were it to be Clinton, Giulliani and Bloomberg all vying for the White House in 2008.
Source: Washington TImes, Bloomberg poised for third-party campaign, By Ralph Z. Hallow, May 15, 2007
