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Sep 15, 2006 6:00 pm US/Eastern
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Bloomberg Secretly Considers Presidential Campaign
CBS 2 Exclusive: Despite Public Denials, Mayor Has Secret Meeting With National Political Strategist, Wall Street Money Man
by Andrew Kirtzman
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has always denied it, but CBS 2 has learned the details of a secret meeting, involving the mayor, to discuss a possible run for the White House.
"I am not running for president, for the record," Bloomberg has consistently said publicly.
But behind the scenes, it's a different story.
CBS 2 has learned the details of a private dinner for the mayor that was held at an apartment building on Manhattan's Upper East Side last month. There, he spent the evening in serious discussions about the viability of a White House run.
Sources told CBS 2 Bloomberg brought three deputy mayors with him, and proceeded to talk through every angle of a presidential run. By the end, the group had zeroed in on his running as an independent in 2008. And, the sources said, he seemed intrigued.
The dinner was held at the home of Michael Steinhardt, a legendary Wall Street hedge fund manager and a Bloomberg friend. He brought along Al From, head of the Democratic Leadership Council, which played a part in Bill Clinton's rise to power in 1992.
Sources said the man who put Bloomberg together with Steinhardt and From was New York City Schools Commissioner Joel Klein.
Aides to the mayor cautioned that he is still very skeptical about the idea of running. In fact, one source said that at the dinner Bloomberg asked, "How likely is a 5'7"-Jew-from-New-York billionaire who's divorced and running as an independent to become president of the United States."
The question may be hard to answer. But New Yorkers we spoke with Friday had their own opinions about what kind of president Bloomberg would make.
"Well, he's been working hard for the city of New York so I think he'd work hard for the United States of America," said one man.
"I don't think he has enough experience in government to direct that orchestra," said another man. "That's a lot of work there."
Bloomberg reportedly thinks he has another year to make up his mind. A poll Thursday had him trailing in a three-way race with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
But things have a way of changing once you spend a few hundred millon dollars from your personal fortune.
It's an expense Bloomberg is clearly considering.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)