Forbes expects third-party bid by Bloomberg
"I think it would be highly unlikely that he wouldn't run," former Republican presidential candidate and media magnate Steve Forbes said today of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Forbes, who's supporting the presidential bid of Republican (and former New York mayor) Rudy Giuliani, said on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer that he's convinced that Bloomberg will mount an independent run for the White House.
"I've thought, for a long time, he's itching to do it," Forbes said, according to a transcript sent to us by CNN. "He may have blown hot and cold on it, short-term. But he's itching to do it. And so he can wait. He's got the resources to wait until after February 5th, see who the two party nominees are.
"But unless something extraordinary happens, I expect him in the race."
This morning, The Washington Post wrote that Bloomberg:
"A potential independent candidate for president, has scheduled a meeting next week with a dozen leading Democrats and Republicans, who will join him in challenging the major-party contenders to spell out their plans for forming a 'government of national unity' to end the gridlock in Washington.
"Those who will be at the Jan. 7 session at the University of Oklahoma say that if the likely nominees of the two parties do not pledge to 'go beyond tokenism' in building an administration that seeks national consensus, they will be prepared to back Bloomberg or someone else in a third-party campaign for president."
Bloomberg, a billionaire, was a Democrat before he ran as a Republican in the 2001 mayoral race. This year, he switched again -- becoming an independent. He has said he has no plans to run for the White House, but has not definitively ruled out such an effort.
"I think it would be highly unlikely that he wouldn't run," former Republican presidential candidate and media magnate Steve Forbes said today of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Forbes, who's supporting the presidential bid of Republican (and former New York mayor) Rudy Giuliani, said on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer that he's convinced that Bloomberg will mount an independent run for the White House.
"I've thought, for a long time, he's itching to do it," Forbes said, according to a transcript sent to us by CNN. "He may have blown hot and cold on it, short-term. But he's itching to do it. And so he can wait. He's got the resources to wait until after February 5th, see who the two party nominees are.
"But unless something extraordinary happens, I expect him in the race."
This morning, The Washington Post wrote that Bloomberg:
"A potential independent candidate for president, has scheduled a meeting next week with a dozen leading Democrats and Republicans, who will join him in challenging the major-party contenders to spell out their plans for forming a 'government of national unity' to end the gridlock in Washington.
"Those who will be at the Jan. 7 session at the University of Oklahoma say that if the likely nominees of the two parties do not pledge to 'go beyond tokenism' in building an administration that seeks national consensus, they will be prepared to back Bloomberg or someone else in a third-party campaign for president."
Bloomberg, a billionaire, was a Democrat before he ran as a Republican in the 2001 mayoral race. This year, he switched again -- becoming an independent. He has said he has no plans to run for the White House, but has not definitively ruled out such an effort.
