In what has become a familiar routine every time a presidential election looms less than three years away, billionaire ex–New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is dropping hints about running for president. According to a New York CBS affiliate, Bloomberg has told associates that he is “revving up” to make a bid in 2020. But this time, there’s a twist: He’d be running as a Democrat.
Bloomberg has contemplated running in 2008, 2012, and 2016, and whether he’s serious this time is anyone’s guess. But the New York Post reported that, at a recent fundraiser at Cipriani 42nd Street — Bloomberg’s natural habitat — he told an adoring crowd, “Before you leave I want to get your cell-phone number because I’m thinking of getting the band back together.”
Bloomberg was a Democrat before he switched to the Republican Party to run for mayor in 2001; he then became an Independent in 2007, during his second term. He has long been a liberal on issues ranging from gun reform to climate change, and has drifted back toward the Democratic Party as the GOP has grown increasingly reactionary, speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 2016 and announcing this month that he would...pledge $80 million to back Democratic candidates in the midterm elections.