A Look at the Sleeper Presidential Candidate: NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Today is January 1, the start of a new year and the presidential races are hotter than they have ever been with more people watching the presidential races unfold throughout the country. By now you've probably heard of all the big name politicians like Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama, and John Edwards. But have you heard of Michael Bloomberg? In a recent national poll, Michael Bloomberg ranked as the 7th most popular politician, ahead of Hillary Clinton John Edwards, John McCain and Mike Huckabee but behind Barack Obama and Rudy Giuliani, according to New York Magazine.

Perhaps the most interest thing is the possibility of a Bloomberg candidacy. Bloomberg has repeatedly stated that he "probably won't run for president" but politicians never say never. Bloomberg is not shy to say, "What chance does a five-foot-seven billionaire Jew who's divorced really have of becoming president?" as he stated in an interview to NY Magazine.

Bloomberg's vast wealth is the most intriguing aspect of a possible presidential run. He is one of the richest men in the word. Forbes estimates have his Bloomberg News business at $5.3 billion with other estimates going as high as $20 billion. According to political analysts, an Independent candidacy would need $500 million which wouldn't be a problem for Bloomberg. Dropping $1 billion running for president is not out of the question, especially if he sets his sights on winning. He spent $74 million on his mayoral campaign in 2001 and spent $85 million on his re-election victory campaign in 2005, in an election that was never even close.

Bloomberg has been trigger shy on stating whether or not he will run for president in part because he is waiting to see who will emerge as the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. In Bloomberg's perfect and certainly not impossible scenario, the Democrats would elect a candidate who is extremely liberal like Hillary Clinton and the Republican would elect a candidate who is very conservative such as Mike Huckabee or even John McCain. Hillary Clinton is currently winning national polls although Barack Obama is neck and neck with her in other polls. Still, Hillary Clinton is an extremely polarizing figure who is hated by a large number of voters. Meanwhile McCain is seen as very conservative and a war hawk. Huckabee is also very conservative and does not have the name recognition of the other political candidates. It would be this type of presidential scenario that would need to occur in order for Bloomberg to run for president.

New York City currently has a two term limit for mayors and despite Bloomberg's unprecedented popularity of consistently over 70%, he will be out of office and out of a political job by the end of 2008. New York's current governor, Eliot Spitzer was recently elected as the Democratic candidate in the last election, winning in a landslide. While Bloomberg would love to be governor, he knows that he cannot be Spitzer in a gubernatorial election. Running for president remains his best and most viable option.

In an age in which people have increasingly been turned off by politics, an independent candidate who is likable and business savvy might just be able to win an election. Barack Obama's campaign has centered on being the candidate for change, opposing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary as being the candidate with experience in Washington. Should Obama win the Democratic nominee it is unlikely that Bloomberg would run for president but if Hillary were to win, it is very likely Bloomberg could enter the race?

In looking at Bloomberg's past political history, he originally was a registered Democratic candidate until his own Democratic party decided to throw their support behind candidate Mark Green instead. The decision prompted him to switch political parties as he ran as a Republican candidate and won the election. Bloomberg's views are truly a mix of Democratic and Republican. He made history by banning the smoking of cigarettes in all restaurants and public places. This move prompted 12 other big cities across the nation to follow and several countries throughout the world such as France are on the verge of passing national legislation banning smoking of cigarettes in public places as well.

Bloomberg is for gun control, as evidenced by his remarkable downward spiral of crime in New York City. NYC has been ranked as the safest big city in America and while Rudy Giuliani can tout his crime record as much as he wants, Bloomberg has made crime even lower, marking for the first time ever that fewer than 500 murders occurred in NYC.

Bloomberg is also for stem cell research and big business. He believes that global warming is a problem and needs solutions. He has been one of the highest donators of philanthropy and charity donations, donating a whopping total of $144 million in 2006. He is also in favor of legalizing all of the illegal immigrants currently in the country and cracking down on border security to make it harder for illegal immigrants to enter the country illegally. We're not going to deport 12 million people, so let's stop this fiction; let's give them permanent status," Bloomberg stated to NY Magazine. He has made housing affordable to poverty stricken areas, with 165,000 new affordable housing until available by 2013.

Despite being a billionaire, Bloomberg has appealed to the blue collar workers of NYC as being an ordinary citizen. He rides the public subway system with ordinary folk's everyday to his office in Grace Mansion where the mayor of NYC traditionally stays. At his office, he doesn't have a big extravagant room; instead opting for a cubicle like all of his other employees.

In political circles, Bloomberg has been exploring his options, meeting with prominent political analysts to find out exactly what would have to happen for him to win the presidential election and what his chances are. Like a true businessman, Bloomberg won't spend a billion dollars if he doesn't think he can win the election.

As for his Vice Presidential running mate, there has been great speculation that he could turn to longtime friend and ally, Arnold Schwarzenegger who is the current popular Governor of California, the biggest state in the nation. The only problem would be that Schwarzenegger is not a U.S. born citizen and therefore could never take the presidential office. He would need to resign from office to allow the Senate pro-tem to take office if Bloomberg were to be unable to do the job due to death or sickness. However, such a scenario unfolding would not necessarily stop a Bloomberg-Schwarzenegger ticket from running on the Independent Party. Several months ago the two men were featured on the cover of Time Magazine, featuring their support of fixing the problem of global warming and how they have both used business-like approaches to fix their respective economies. Another possible choice could be Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman who ran and won this past election as an Independent candidate after the Democratic Party tried unsuccessfully to elect a more liberal candidate to the Senate.

Bloomberg's NYC mayoral chief of staff and campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey has been the biggest force in trying to convince the mayor to run for office. Sheekey believes that the mayor's ideas for fixing the nation such as its trillion dollar debt, downward stock market and place on the world scale would greatly benefit. Bloomberg believes in making change happen and for a nation that desperate need that to happen; Bloomberg can be that person to be the next president of the United States.