No chance...

Bloomberg: Independent candidates have 'no chance'

By Nolan D. McCaskill

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg cited America’s two-party political system as part of his reasoning for not mounting an independent bid for president.

Bloomberg confirmed in February that he was “looking at all the options” for a White House run but ultimately declined to run in March, fearing that his candidacy would lead to a Donald Trump or Ted Cruz presidency.

“I am not running for president of the United States,” Bloomberg restated in a BBC podcast published Thursday. “Because a third-party candidate in our system has no chance of winning. And if you had a chance of winning, I would’ve run. But I did not have a chance of doing that.”

Bloomberg said the system is designed for a two-candidate race, noting that if no one wins a majority of electoral votes in November, the House would choose the next president.

“And they would pick, whichever party they’re in at the time, will pick that candidate,” he said. “So the independent just has no chance.”

Bloomberg added that his candidacy likely would have prevented any candidate from winning 270 electoral votes, empowering the Republican-led House to vote a Republican into the White House.

In a commencement address at the University of Michigan in April, Bloomberg took a swipe at the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for his rhetoric on Mexicans and Muslims. He told graduates, “Voting is the only way to stop demagogues.”

But on Thursday, the fellow New York billionaire struck a softer tone.

“Look, No. 1, people say things during campaigns which later on have nothing to do with the way they govern. So that’s the first thing,” Bloomberg said when asked how worried people should be about Trump. “No. 2, you should worry about everybody that runs, and try to see if they — try to support, particularly if it’s in your country, support the candidates that will give you the best opportunities for you and your family.”

Bloomberg suggested that no one will ever completely agree with any candidate, but voters can still have a preference. “I have a preference and I’ll perhaps, down the road, express that publicly,” he said. “I’m certainly gonna express that preference in the voting booth.”

The former mayor failed to specify whether he would vote for Trump, only adding the real estate mogul is an unconventional candidate nobody thought would make it this far.

“Nobody predicted that somebody espousing the views that he has — I don’t know whether he believes them or will change them — but what he’s said before, no political expert would have said somebody saying those things, behaving the way he has done, would have a chance, and yet there he is,” Bloomberg said. “But that’s what democracy is all about.”