Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the former Mayor of New York City, is working on plans for a possible independent 2016 presidential run because of the prospect of a Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton general election match up, CNN and the New York Times reported Saturday, January 23, 2016.
The NY Times reported that Bloomberg "has instructed advisers to draw up plans for a potential independent campaign in this year's presidential race. His advisers and associates said he was galled by Donald J. Trump's dominance of the Republican field, and troubled by Hillary Clinton's stumbles and the rise of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on the Democratic side."
CNN quoted "a source familiar with Bloomberg's thinking" as saying Bloomberg "is seriously considering a possible independent presidential run and is looking at making a decision sometime in March."
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is considering possible independent presidential run, source tells CNN. https://t.co/hrBvIt7bxW
-- CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 23, 2016
Bloomberg, who served three terms as New York's Republican mayor, has considered a White House bid before, but concluded he couldn't win. That was before the "conventional wisdom" rule book was tossed out the window with the remarkable rise of Trump ad the strength of "socialist" Bernie Sanders challenge of Clinton.
A Clinton-Trump-Bloomberg race would be an all New York City contest -- all three live there -- putting New York's 29 electoral college votes into play.
A strong third party candidate that takes away electoral college votes from the Democractic ticket -- which Bloomberg might do considering his progressive positions -- could be a boost for the GOP, considering the Republican-controlled Congress would choose a president in the event of an electoral college deadlock.
A Bloomberg presidential run could be bad news for Democrats https://t.co/BHweyt3g4a
-- TIME.com (@TIME) January 23, 2016
