Mayor Mike makes presidential noise

Bloomberg drops the (R), picks up an (I) and throws a curve into the '08 presidential race.

While the early conventional wisdom has Hillary, as the inevitable nominee [also conventional wisdom], happy with this Bloomberg toe-in-the-water news, as a New Yorker, I'm not so sure. I've seen firsthand how Mayor Mike can pull Democratic votes to his side. And with a candidate as negative-heavy as Hillary this makes a moderate vote defection to Bloomberg all the more likely.

However, stepping outside convention for a moment, I think the biggest side-effect of this news will be to keep Al Gore firmly on the '08 fence or even push the former VP over to the decidedly "no, I will not run" side of it. Just in the last few weeks Mayor Bloomberg has announced his plans for a green taxi cab fleet and a solar power pilot program for the city, all under the screw Washington banner. Hitting these environmentally friendly notes has got to please Al. If Gore perceives Bloomberg has a true shot at winning [read: defeating Hillary] I would think Al stays fat on the Hollywood land and leaves the politics to those who still have the stomach for it. I also wouldn't put it past Bloomberg to offer Gore an early seat in his cabinet, thereby legitimizing his left-leaning vote-grabbing potential.

While, I have not been a big Bloomberg fan, mainly due to his gestapo-like tactics surrounding the 2004 GOP convention, his recently expressed realism towards the war on terror and his desire to turn NYC green certainly gives me comfort that in at least a few areas I can trust he would bring a pragmatism to our politics that is sorely needed.