NEW YORK - Political commentators for months have been asking if the United States is ready for its first woman or black president. Now they`re starting to wonder if the country could elect its first Jewish head of state in 2008.
And while Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are hogging the headlines, speculation is mounting that New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is planning to sink one billion dollars into an independent White House bid.
The 65-year-old billionaire financier has repeatedly denied he is interested in running for president, and says he will serve out his mayoral term ending in late 2009, but his protests have done little to silence the media buzz.
A former Wall Street trader who went on to found the financial news service that bears his name, Bloomberg has proved a popular mayor.
Though a Republican, his stands on abortion, gun control and gay marriage are more typical of liberal Democrats.
Several recent reports have suggested Bloomberg would enter the campaign if he thought he could win a three-way contest, but The Washington Times reported Tuesday that the mayor was considering running just to influence the debate.
The report said he had set aside an unprecedented one billion dollars for his campaign, a sizeable chunk of his estimated 5.5-billion-dollar personal fortune, quoting an unnamed adviser to the mayor.
The money would be needed to hire campaign staff, pay for commercials and collect sufficient signatures to put him on the ballot in all 50 states.
"He could turn the political landscape of this election upside down, spend as much money as he wanted," The Washington Times quoted former federal election commission chief Michael Toner as saying.
"Bloomberg is H. Ross Perot on steroids," he said. Perot, a billionaire Republican, ran as an independent in 1992, taking more than 18 percent of the popular vote and giving a substantial leg up for Democrat Bill Clinton.
Republicans, may of whom consider Perot a "spoiler" who ruined then president George Bush senior`s chances of reelection, are said to be taking the possibly of Bloomberg running very seriously.
According to The Washington Times, a Bloomberg team has already met with Perot`s campaign team to compare strategies.
Time magazine this week quoted a friend of the popular mayor as saying Bloomberg was considering a run for president and downplayed other reports that he was instead interested in the job of New York governor.
"Why would he want to be governor? If he runs for anything, it`ll be the White House," the magazine quoted the unnamed friend as saying.
It also quoted the mayor`s political adviser Kevin Sheekey as saying Bloomberg should consider running. Other supporters have set up the draftmichael.com website to persuade the mayor to run.
One thing is for sure -- money is not a problem. Bloomberg was this year ranked by Forbes magazine as the 142nd richest man in the world.
He is believed to have spent more than 150 million dollars of his own money to get elected as New York mayor in 2001 and again in 2005 and last year plunged 125 million dollars into a global anti-smoking campaign.
He has recently been raising his national profile on key issues, unveiling a national energy conservation initiative last week in Texas and spearheading the national coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
This week he is hosting international climate change talks in New York, headlining the event with former president Clinton and further polishing his already considerable green credentials.
While many insiders have suggested an announcement from Bloomberg is no longer a question of "if" but "when," The New York Times recently speculated that Bloomberg could wait until early next year before making a decision.
In the meantime, he is keeping his cool.
Last month he appeared at a press conference in New York with former vice president Al Gore, also rumored to be mulling a potential presidential run.
Turning to his potential opponent, Bloomberg said: "Don`t you just hate those rumors about running for president?"
05/15/2007 16:53 GMT