The Bloomberg Effect

Michael Bloomberg is, by all indications, seriously considering a run for the Presidency. According to unnamed and probably erroneous sources, he is willing to spend one billion of his own dollars on his campaign. Although it is doubtful that Bloomberg would spend that kind of money, his actions of the past couple of weeks do suggest that he is willing to spend a considerable amount of both time and money in a bid for the White House.

Bloomberg has recently announced his resignation from the GOP, paving the way for a potential announcement of an Independent candidacy.

This possibility worries people from both parties. The Republican camp worries that the fact he is a former Republican would split the Republican vote. They see Ross Perot in Michael Bloomberg.

Democrats are perturbed about the possibility that Bloomberg could split the Democrat vote. They note that his policies are mostly left-wing, and that few conservatives would seriously consider voting for him.

Realistically, though, neither side has much to worry about at this time. It is uncertain as at just which set of voters Bloomberg would appeal to. It would be impossible for him to get the conservative vote, given his liberalism. It is possible that he would have a little more luck with liberals, but only a little. While his policies are left-wing, he is not very far left. Liberals still remember Ralph Nader's run in 2000 that took just enough votes from Gore to hand the Presidency to George W. Bush. They do not want to see this happen again.

Bloomberg seems to be laboring under the impression that there is a massive grassroots movements waiting to sweep him into the White House, or least into the running. Unfortunately for him, most of the nation seems to be reasonably satisfied with the available candidates. A Rasmussen poll showed that only seven percent of the countries would be very likely to vote for him and twenty-seven percent at all likely to cast their vote for Bloomberg. Sixty percent are not likely to vote for him. It is difficult to see where he would gain any more support, given the lateness of his potential run.