"Did Mike Bloomberg become a multi-billionaire by lowering his
sights? I don't think so," says a friend of the popular second-term
mayor. "Why would he want to be governor? If he runs for anything, it'll
be the White House."
Sources close to the mayor confirm that Bloomberg is not interested
in trying to oust newly elected Democratic governor Eliot Spitzer from
his job. "He's become the Paris Hilton of politics — people love to
speculate about him," says one source, who adds that Bloomberg, a
nominal Republican, is preparing to throw himself into the presidential
race next spring, if he sees an opening. He's told people privately that
he'd be willing to spend $500 million or more to finance an independent,
third-party presidential campaign — to collect the signatures needed to
get him on the ballot in all 50 states, to buy ads and to pay for staff.
