The repeated announcements from NY Mayor and media magnate Michael Bloomberg (I) that he is not running for president in 2008 are not jibing particularly well with a polling and voter analysis project Bloomberg’s peeps seem to be conducting in on the sly. His entry could mean a sudden infusion of millions of additional advertising dollars to an election season which figures to break records any way.
According to the Associated Press, Bloomberg is taking the political temperature in all 50 states, and has been doing so for months now. AP notes that if Bloomberg is willing to spend so much of his own hard-earned cash on an electoral research project, it goes without saying that he would spend vastly greater amounts if he does in fact launch a third-party candidacy.
RBR/TVBR observation: The speculation we’ve seen has been suggesting that the more centrist the candidates from the Democrats and Republicans, the less likely Bloomberg will be to enter the race. As to the viability of a third party candidacy, that remains to be seen. Such candidates clearly do not have a great track record. Often, the tendency is for the third candidate to draw votes away from the more similar of the two national party candidates, aiding the election of the least similar. And even there, speculation as to which party would most stand to benefit from Bloomberg’s presence is up in the air. He recently announced himself to be an independent, but has been a member of the Democratic party and more recently was elected Mayor of New York City as a Republican.
But one area of speculation is indisputable. If he does throw his hat in the ring, it will mean vast sums of cash added to the already burgeoning political advertising category.
