Perot was not only rich but genuinely nuts. I don't have any reason to think Bloomberg is nuts. I don't think he'll run, but he will enjoy people talking about whether he might.

I can't tell whether the mainstream media folks from NYC and LA who are talking about this as a serious proposition are really serious, or just pretending to be serious. Either way, it's still mildly amusing to watch them being so ridiculous.

The most amusing thing about the Bloomberg switch may be Andrew Sullivan's reaction to it since he's laboring under the false impression that Bloomberg was actually a Republican in principle rather than a Republican for convenience.

P.S. I like the new comment preview template.

That seems to fall squarely within OTB territory.

The problem with Giuliani blowing off the ISG is that it exposes the fiction of him as Mr. "Strong on Terror." It is difficult for purveyors of conventional wisdom to reconcile reality with their predispositions.

My guess is that if James covers this it will be to discount it as inconsequential or he will more likely buy the Giuliani campaign spin that the holy Rudy didn't want to "politicize" the proceedings--even though he had already publicly declared his interest in running for President months before he was asked to join the ISG.

Bloomberg Switches Parties Again, Setting up Independent White House Bid

This headline is misleading--Bloomberg didn't "switch" parties. He went from being a party member to being non-partisan.

Bloomberg never presented himself as a true blue Republican

This is simply untrue. Bloomberg was a big supporter of the party and Bush. In his speech to the party delegates at the 2004 convention: "The president deserves our support. We are here to support him, and I am here to support him."

At the Lincoln Day dinner on Staten Island in 2003: "We are going to get George W. Bush re-elected as president of the United States. We are going to carry New York city and state. Everybody thinks I'm crazy, but I think we can do it."

To be an elected Republican officeholder, and vocal supporter of a conservative Republican president certainly makes someone a "true blue Republican."

So, "power" doesn't include "putting people in jail for years without a hearing," or "torturing people," or "ignoring the law," or "forbidding women to have abortions," or ....

Does "power" to conservatives really mean anything more than "spending money"? And then they wonder why they're stereotyped as heartless and greedy?

America is basically a liberal country. Our best values are liberal values.

Bloomberg is a liberal and would do well if he came back to the center and ran as a Democrat. Claiming an independent status makes him look unsure of who he really wants to serve. When it comes down to it only a tiny fraction of people ever vote for an Independent or a third party candidate in any national election.

I would be surprised if he does not know this. My thinking is that he may run a spoiler campaign to ensure a democratic victory in the next election. He is wealthy enough and has spent hundreds of millions of his own money just to win the mayor-ship of a New York City. I doubt if he ever recovered that money as mayor. So he is not in it for the money.

Like Ross Perot and Ralph Nader before he may garner enough votes as an independent to help influence the outcome of the election.