Oh, no, what if

Mayor Bloomberg, that former Democrat turned Republican has now turned Independent. I can see no reason for this at this time unless he is seriously contemplating running for President. As he has billions he can easily finance his own campaign, especially if he sensibly waits until late this year or early next year to announce. He would, presumably, lead a third party ticket. In a three party race, Giuliani, Clinton, Bloomberg, he would have an excellent chance of winning in New York and who knows, maybe many other places. What a complication this would be.

But don't forget Al Gore. What if he were to decide to run and not announce until later this year? It is said that he would have no trouble raising money and, given his recent comeback and popularity I should think he'd have an excellent chance of winning.

If both Bloomberg and Gore do decide to run they would be two heavyweights running against a bunch of lighweights or noweights at all. With the exception, I think, of Hillary, who cannot be considered anything other than a very serious possibility. She has been on a serious upturn recently and now leads Obama and Edwards by double digits. Furthermore, as I said earlier, I believe she has already been anointed by the powers that be to be the Democratic candidate. If this is true (and perhaps even if it isn't true) I can foresee a battle between Hillary and Bloomberg as none of the Republican candidates are worth bothering about (even the Republicans themselves are not impressed).

Third parties, historically, have not done well. As things are currently so bad in both Democratic and Republican circles perhaps 2008 could be the year (I rather doubt it even with Bloomberg). Gore might well win hands down as he is the only Democrat that has been consistently right about everything. Speculating wildly, I think if Hillary continues to do well and is going to pretty obviously win the nomination, Gore will not decide to run. Why do I think so? Because Gore won't want to rain on her parade and, more importantly, will surely get a prime seat at the table in a Clinton administration (this will be especially true if he agrees not to run).

The amusing thing about this is that if either Bloomberg or Gore run, or both, it means that all the politicking up until now will have simply been a lot of wasted time and effort (except probably for Hillary). Starting all this campaigning this early is simply ridiculous. I have consistently told people who asked me who I support, or might support, to ask me several months from now. All of this activity is terribly premature and will no doubt mean nothing at all by the time we get to the primaries.

But understand, this is not what I necessarily want to happen. It is, rather, what I think might happen. I would vote for Gore if he were to run. Failing that, I would probably vote for either Kucinich or Richardson as they seem to be the only candidates that are truly serious about ending this absurd "war" and actually bringing our troops home.

LKBIQ:

"...For it is commonly said: he who desires to lie, let him lie concerning far off things and places, since few travel into distant parts, and a man will sooner credit what he hears than undertake the labour of find out the truth for himself."
Dr. Joh. Dryander