NYC mayor Michael
Bloomberg leaves GOP

Speculation that Mayor Michael Bloomberg was interested in a third-party presidential run was merely simmering last summer when he was asked about the idea of leaving the GOP and becoming an independent.

The billionaire mayor, who supports same-sex marriage, pointed out that the Republican Party had given him an opportunity to get elected in 2001, when he switched his lifelong Democratic registration to avoid a crowded primary.

''There's no reason for me to change my party at the moment,'' Bloomberg said then.

Apparently, the moment has come.

After some six years as a Republican, the 65-year-old former CEO announced Tuesday that he has left the Republican Party and become unaffiliated in what many believe could be a step toward entering the 2008 race for president.

Bloomberg has fueled those notions with increasing out-of-state travel, greater focus on national issues, and repeated criticism of partisan politics, all the while vowing to leave public office at the end of his term in 2009.

''Although my plans for the future haven't changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our city,'' Bloomberg said in the statement he issued Tuesday.

Notwithstanding Bloomberg's coyness, the mayor's announcement only increases speculation he will pursue the White House, challenging the Democratic and Republican nominees with a well-financed third-party bid.

Bloomberg, who founded the Bloomberg financial news service, has an estimated worth of more than $5 billion and easily could underwrite a White House run, much like Texas businessman Ross Perot did in 1992. Bloomberg spent more than $155 million for his two mayoral campaigns, including $85 million when he won his second term in 2005.

A Bloomberg entry into the presidential contest could inject additional turmoil into an already wide-open race, but there is no clear consensus on how a Bloomberg candidacy would affect the outcome.

Some operatives believe Bloomberg's moderate positions would siphon votes from the Democratic nominee. Others say he could just as easily spoil it for the Republicans.

A Quinnipiac University poll, conducted just before the mayor's announcement, found that among New York State voters Clinton led at 43%, followed by Giuliani at 29% and Bloomberg at 16%. The poll found Bloomberg pulling votes about equally from Clinton and Giuliani.

In 1992, Perot captured 19% of the popular vote as Democrat Bill Clinton seized the presidency from incumbent Republican president George H.W. Bush. Independent Ralph Nader played the spoiler in the 2000 race, taking votes from Democrat Al Gore in a disputed election won by George W. Bush.

Throughout his five years as mayor Bloomberg often has been at odds with his party and Bush. He supports same-sex marriage, abortion rights, gun control, and stem cell research, and he hiked property taxes to help solve a fiscal crisis after the September 11 attacks.

But he never seemed willing to part with the GOP completely, raising money for the 2004 presidential convention and contributing money to Bush and other Republican candidates.

Just last year he told a group of Manhattan Republicans about his run for mayor: ''I couldn't be prouder to run on the Republican ticket and be a Republican.''

Asked on Monday about a hypothetical independent candidate entering the race, Bloomberg launched a broad critique of the Bush administration and Congress while lamenting the presidential debates to date.

''I think the country is in trouble,'' Bloomberg said, citing the war in Iraq and the nation's declining standing globally.

''Our reputation has been hurt very badly in the last few years,'' he said. ''We've had a go-it-alone mentality in a world where, because of communications and transportation, you should be going exactly in the other direction.'' (Sara Kugler, AP)