BLOOMBERG'S CANDIDACY IS BLOSSOMING: So New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg just announced he's leaving the Republican Party and registering as Independent. Funny how his announcement makes no mention of why he's leaving the Republican Party, he simply touts his achievements and attributes them to over-coming partisanship. If Bloomberg didn't suddenly discover that his supposed commitment to reproductive freedom, civil rights, a clean environment or a fair shake for New York from Congress is contradicted by the positions and actions of the rest of his party (and this was just as true, say, in 2004 when he praised President Bush at the Republican Convention), why is he doing this now? Clearly, as I've been saying for a while, Bloomberg is seriously thinking of running for president. I believe this is bad news for the Democrats, since he's smart enough to only sink his billions in blue and purple states that he has a chance of carrying and where he'll split the non-fundamentalist vote. Now granted, the polls say he actually draws more from Repubilcan candidates in three-way match ups. But I suspect that may just demonstrate that Republican-leaners are more dissatisfied with their choices currently. --Ben Adler
