Well, what do folks think of the New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg throwing out the idea of being an Independent candidate in the 2008 Presidential election? He has shown a fantastic grasp of business and leadership skills in making his fortune, and has been applying much of that to his job as Mayor. How would that translate to the International political and diplomatic stage?

I am ready to give him some serious consideration, should he actually make a challenge.

It would be nice to think an independent could make a difference, but in reality I don't think he has a prayer of getting elected as president. The very best he could hope for (and this is a *BIG* stretch) is to garner enough poll popularity that one of the big two offers him the VP spot in hopes of luring his supporter's votes.

I think too many people who are tired of their current main party would still vote for its candidate simply because they loathe the other main party so much. Rather than vote *for* somebody, they are really voting *against* somebody else and the safest way to do that is to stick with the big 2.

Too bad really. I'm really tired of both democrats and republicans and would love to see someone who works more for the country and less for their party in office.

I think Bloomberg is testing the waters. He has ambition aplenty -- you don't get billions and be mayor of NYC without it -- but he's not stupid. Independent runs for the presidency aren't a recipe for success. So he's declared his party independence and is visiting different parts of the country (including NH), getting his name out there.

I'd be more sympathetic to his hypothetical candidacy if he wasn't so 4th Amendment-challenged, but he could make things interesting. The way current polls stand, you could see a race between two ex-mayors of NYC and a NY senator...meaning most of the country stays home, I wager.

Given his war chest, I think Bloomberg will wait to see how he polls compared to other likely candidates and let the field winnow a bit. Then he'll decide if the time is right to make the plunge.

I like him, a lot. He's done some great things for New York that both sides of the isle would appreciate (all NYC taxi cabs going green by 2010 ... from a Republican?!)