Bloomberg Wants to Buy Presidency

I can't be the only one turned off by the idea of Michael Bloomberg possibly spending $1 billion to try and buy the presidency. We suffered enough with the gadfly Ross Perot helping elect Bill Clinton with 42.8% of the vote in 1992.

"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.

The Bloomberg team is studying the strategies of Mr. Perot, the Texas billionaire whose 1992 presidential campaign helped President Clinton to win the White House with 43 percent of the popular vote.

"Mike has been meeting with Ross Perot's most senior people about how they did an independent run in 1992," the Bloomberg business adviser said on condition of anonymity so as to avoid appearing to speak for Mr. Bloomberg.

Bloomberg's style might play well in New York City, but I just don't believe he's an attractive enough candidate nationwide. The media saturation of spending $1 billion is sure to turn people off. Hanging around Chuck Hagel sure isn't going to attract many Republicans into his camp.

Bloomberg needs to get off the ego trip. If he wants to move on to higher office, he certainly could topple inept New York Governor Eliot Spitzer in 2010.