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Jun 21, 2007 7:41 am US/Eastern
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Bloomberg: 'I Intend To Be Mayor For 925 Days'
by Marcia Kramer
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
A day after quitting the Republican party and choosing to register as unaffiliated, fueling speculation he would be running for president in 2008, Mayor Michael Bloomberg responded to those rumors by saying he plans to fulfill his term as mayor in its entirety.
"My intention is to be mayor for the next 925 days and probably about 10 hours, whatever is left, 11 hours, and that is my intention," he said. "I've got the greatest job in the world and I'm going to keep doing it," he said.
"
Intention" being the operative word, of course.
Still, he did, however, say he believed that there needs to be more candidates running for president. "I'm confident this country will have options. I do think the more people that run for office the better," he said. "Hopefully this country is smart enough to pick somebody who is able to lead this country fully. Nobody is going to have an easy time," he said.
Bloomberg plunged the country's political landscape further into chaos on Tuesday evening when he released a statement saying he was quitting the Republican Party.
"I have filed papers with the New York City Board of Elections to change my status as a voter and register as unaffiliated with any political party. Although my plans for the future haven't changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our City," Bloomberg said.
Bloomberg initially joined the Republican Party in 2001 after spending his life as a registered Democrat. He says he decided to leave the GOP when he felt the country needed to rely more on bipartisan politics.
"It's my perception that government at all levels is becoming more partisan rather than less," he said Wednesday.
But experts believe the move had to be made if he decides to run for president.
"He did it because there are some states that require you not to be a Democrat or a Republican when you file Independent nominating petitions," political consultant Joseph Mercurio said.
Added Mickey Carroll of the Quinnipiac University Poll: "Mayor Mike makes his move. He's not in the starting gate. He's on the track."
Mercurio and Carroll agree it's just a matter of time before Bloomberg makes a formal announcement.
"I think this is pretty clear," Mercurio said. "He's certainly keeping his option open to run as a candidate for president."
Said Carroll: "He's not running yet, but you take things one step at a time. This is obviously the first step."
At a joint press conference, Bloomberg and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were about running together. Bloomberg said they haven't yet talked about it.
"There'd be a fight to see who would be the presidential candidate and who would be the vice presidential candidate," Bloomberg said. "He would want to arm wrestle for the top spot. I would want to check the constitution."
The pair appeared on this week's cover of
Time magazine.
The California trip is part of a recent series of out-of-state trips, which has added to the speculation that he may run. On Monday, he visited the Google Inc. campus in Mountain View, Calif., a trip that four other announced presidential candidates have made.
He was also in Los Angeles on Monday where he bashed partisan politics in Washington, saying it was putting "our future in jeopardy." He hinted Tuesday's exit from the GOP when he said the nation was on a "wrong-headed course" unless politicians could work together across party lines.
Carroll said Quinnipiac has a new presidential poll out Wednesday. Bloomberg comes in third behind Sen. Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, but of course it was done before Tuesday's announcement.
Stay with CBS 2 and wcbstv.com for more.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)