US media mogul Michael Bloomberg, who for months quietly laid the groundwork to run for president as an independent, will not enter the 2016 campaign, he wrote in a column on Monday, citing his fear that a three-way race could lead to the election of a candidate who would imperil the security and stability of the US: Real estate tycoon Donald Trump or Tea Party-backed US Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz.
The decision by Bloomberg, the former New York mayor who served three terms, ends months of intensive preparation for a candidacy. Convinced that a restive electorate was crying out for nonpartisan, technocratic government, he instructed his closest aides to set up the machinery for a long-shot billion-dollar campaign that would have subjected his image to a scorching political test.
Plainly torn between his aspiration to serve as president and a mountain of data showing that the path for an independent campaign aimed at the political centre was slim and narrowing, Bloomberg ultimately abandoned what would probably have been his last chance to run for the White House.
Had both Trump and Democratic White House aspirant Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont appeared headed toward victory in the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries, Bloomberg was determined to run, according to his advisers, several of whom insisted on anonymity to speak candidly about confidential discussions.
But Bloomberg balked at the prospect of a race against Trump and Hillary Clinton, who has established a dominant lead over Sanders on the Democratic side.
Bloomberg’s decision brings a new measure of clarity to a presidential race that has come sharply into focus in recent weeks, and reflects both Hillary Clinton’s tightening grip on the Democratic contest and the growing alarm among mainstream political and business leaders about Trump’s populist insurgency.
Trump is widely seen as a weak general election candidate, and sources said surveys conducted for Bloomberg bolstered that perception. Bloomberg’s veteran pollster, Douglas E Schoen, gauged his prospects in polls in February and March, found at the outset, about two-fifths of the country had no familiarity with Bloomberg, who may be best known nationally for his support of expanded gun control legislation. But Schoen’s February polling found that after voters heard mostly favourable descriptions of the ex-NYC mayor, Trump and Sanders, Bloomberg collected 35% of the vote and a solid lead in the Electoral College. In a race against Trump and Clinton, however, polls found Bloomberg faced far tougher odds. The most favourable result for Bloomberg would probably have been a stalemate in the Electoral College, with no candidate capable of taking the 270 votes required.
Under those conditions, the House of Representatives, where Republicans currently hold a majority, would choose the president.
One of the richest people in the US, estimated to be worth $38bn, Bloomberg has previously toyed with presidential runs, but concluded ahead of the 2008 and 2012 campaigns he could not win. He is largely a social liberal — he fought for same-sex marriage in New York and is pro-abortion rights — and implemented a number of health reforms in New York City, banning smoking in public places and instituting calorie counts on menus.
He has also become one of the nation’s most vocal proponents of gun control, using his fortune to bankroll candidates across the country who clash with the National Rifle Association. But liberals have found fault with his cozy ties to Wall Street.
