Closely monitoring the wide-open U.S. presidential race, New York mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is moving closer to running for president as an independent candidate.
His aides are actually aggressively laying the groundwork for him to run, according to Monday's the New York Times.
On January 7, the mayor will join Democratic and Republican senior statesmen at the University of Oklahoma in what conveners are billing as an effort to pressure the major party candidates to renounce partisan gridlock and focus on the country's main challenges.
The event comes as the mayor's advisers have been quietly canvassing potential campaign consultants about their availability in the coming months.
Bloomberg himself has become more candid in conversations with friends and associates about his interest in running, despite his public denials, the report said.
The mayor has privately suggested scenarios in which he might be a viable candidate, for instance, if the opposing major party candidates are poles apart, like Mike Huckabee, a Republican, versus Barack Obama or John Edwards as the Democratic nominee.
Although a final decision by Bloomberg about whether to run is unlikely before February, he and his closest advisers are positioning themselves so that if the mayor declares his candidacy, a campaign infrastructure will be instantly in place.
Independent campaigns for U.S. presidency will formally begin March 5, when third-party candidates can begin circulating nominating petitions.
Source: Xinhua
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