Bloomberg Bolts from the Republican Party

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg left the Republican Party yesterday, switching his party status from Republican to unaffiliated. The move increased speculation that Bloomberg plans an independent bid for President in 2008.

Bloomberg has never been one to let a party label get in the way of ambition. In 2001, billionaire former CEO made a similar switch when he first ran for mayor, defecting to the GOP to avoid a crowded Democratic primary. In announcing his latest switch, he said the change in voter registration does not mean he is running for president.

"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," he said in a statement. In the past Bloomberg has maintained that he would leave public office at the end of his second term as New York mayor in 2009.

Not likely.

Ross Perot's campaign in 1992 showed how far a man can go if willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money. Perot pulled 19% of the vote that year despite having no political experience and being considered a nut by a huge number of Americans. Bloomberg has run the largest city in the country and is no nut.

Bloomberg, who founded the Bloomberg LP financial news service, has an estimated worth of more than $5 billion and, much like Texas businessman Ross Perot in 1992, could easily finance a White House run out of his own pocket. Bloomberg spent more than $155 million for his two mayoral campaigns.

The 65-year-old mayor has increasingly traveled out of state, including New Hampshire last weekend, and made the announcement of his party switch in California. Bloomberg has also been speaking more on national issues and has repeatedly criticized the partisan politics that have for years caused gridlock in Washington.