New York mayor leaves GOP, possibly to run for White House

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been parrying speculation for months that he might be considering a run for the White House in 2008.

But he’s done nothing to discourage talk about his candidacy, speaking out on national issues and criticizing partisan gridlock.

The speculation got a little more concrete Wednesday.

That’s when the mayor announced that he has left the Republican party and is now “unaffiliated,” a move many say is the first step toward announcing a run for the White House as an independent.

For most of us, taking a shot at the presidency is a pipe dream. Even if we were able to rise above the din of the established party candidates, there would still be the money problem. It costs a fortune to run for president.

Luckily for Bloomberg he has a fortune. A big fortune.

Bloomberg, 65, is worth about $5 billion. He made his fortune first in investment banking at Salomon Brothers and then by creating the financial computer terminal and news company that bear his name.

He was a Democrat back then and had been all his life. But the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City was too crowded so he switched to the Republican party and won the election.

Now another switch and perhaps another goal.

Bloomberg has accomplished a lot in his life, so it would be foolish to totally discount him in anything he sets his mind to.

But even with his money, he still faces many of the same obstacles any independent or third party candidate faces when seeking this nation’s highest office.

Still, the mood in America may just be right for a serious contender from outside the Washington power structure. Certainly the current candidates aren’t exactly inspiring any great passion from the public.

Take Texarkana native and Dallas billionaire H. Ross Perot. Just a few years ago Perot galvanized the political climate when he ran for president against the incumbent George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Perot’s candidacy got people excited. Millions who had just about given up on politics were interested again. At one point in June 2002 he even topped the polls.

Then he threw it all away in one of the strangest blow-ups in modern political history.

Even then he managed to pull in nearly 19 percent of the popular vote, making him the most successful independent candidate since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912.

Perot had a shot. Then he threw it away.

Bloomberg is smart enough to learn from Perot’s successes and failures. If he runs, he won’t be making the same mistakes.

But don’t expect him to get any help from the Texan who paved the way.

Perot has another horse in the race. In March, GOP candidate Mitt Romney announced Perot will serve on his Texas statewide finance committee..