This post if off my usual web/media fare, but I felt like writing about it:

NYC Mayor Mike Bloombergannounced yesterday he was leaving the Republican party and becoming an independent. Not really that surprising in and of itself since he was a Democrat before he ran for NYC Mayor. The big news is that Bloomberg is considering running for President as an independent and spending up to $500 million of his multi-billion dollar personal function. Bloomberg has been quoted in multiple places sinces his announcement saying that he is considering this because both major political parties have left the center and pushed toward the edges of the political spectrum and that he would only run if he thought he had a chance at winning and not as a spoiler.

Of course, it is very early in the primary season and most candidates push away from the center in the primaries to appeal to the base of the party which is usually much more extreme than the rank and file voters. After receiving the nomination most candidates will run back to the center to pick-up middle of the road voters.

At first, I thought Bloomberg running was going to throw the 2008 presidential elections to the democrats by him pulling most of the conservative voters, but the mainstream media are proposing that Bloomberg is doing the exact opposite because he is strongly anti-war. After further thought, I think Bloomberg is just helping out his fellow NYC Republican candidate Guliani. Guliani is too far to the left on social issues (and with his very messy divorces) to get elected in the Republican primaries. With Bloomberg scaring the Republicans that he will run if they nominate a hard core conservative, it gives Guiliani a much better chance at the nomination than he had before.