Michael Bloomberg Has Made Up His Mind

            Michael Bloomberg just announced that he will not be running for President, in a post titled The Risk I Will Not Take. He writes that he is, like many Americans, "dismayed" by the extremism he sees on both sides of the aisle. He believes today's candidates are too polarized, and too willing to reject policies on the basis of ideology. He cites the days of President Bill Clinton and President Ronald Reagan as examples of better times in American presidential politics. Both men were, he says, "problem-solvers, not ideological purists."This is what he thinks we need in the 2016 race, and what he had hoped he would be able to provide.
             Many of his supporters have been asking him to run, and he writes today that he has "given the question serious consideration." According to a New York Times article, he did some very serious considering: he has spent the last few months working with a covertly organized network of strategists, who polled in 22 states, created a website and television ads, and even set up campaign offices in Texas and North Carolina.
           But he admits that, when looking at the numbers realistically, he knows he could not win the presidency. His decision illustrates our class discussion about how difficult our system makes it for third party candidates to run for president and win. Bloomberg explains that, in a three-way race, no candidate would win the majority, and the Republican-led Congress would select the next president, either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. "That is not a risk I can take in good conscience," he says.
          As we discussed in class, it seems his decision not to run comes as a result of the increasing likelihood of a Trump-Clinton race- he has too much in common with Clinton to distinguish himself and make the campaign worthwhile.