Here's a wacked out scenario:

[cali]

Ron Paul runs as an independent.

Bloomberg runs as an independent

and there are the dem and repuke candidates.

What a zoo that would be. I wonder what would happen.

[Joe the Revelator]

1. Bloomberg for the win.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Would Bloomberg be more likely to attract Republican voters?

Frankly I like this idea. I am very much in favor of a multi-party system, where we have presidential races with 5 or 6 strong candidates. The winner could be elected with only 20% of the vote. That means 80% of the voters start out by not supporting that candidate. So he/she would have to work to gain the confidence of the public and bring up those approval ratings.

I know it sounds crazy but I am over these candidates who come into office thinking they have a mandate.

[cali]

5. It depends who the repuke candidate is: If it's the huckster, yeah

Bloomberg would get a lot of repuke votes. Romney? not so much. And I agree, it could be very healty.

[skipos]

3. Paul and Bloomberg wouldn't win

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/election_2008_clinton_42_giuliani_39_ron_paul_8

[Joe the Revelator]

4. You can't say that about Bloomberg...nobody knows him now...

but he's willing to spend over a billion to make sure that everyone soon does.

[skipos]

14. That poll is of NY, which knows Bloomberg pretty well, yes? nt

[cali]

8. sorry, polls a year out, don't mean a thing.

Bloomberg would have a war chest that dwarfed the other candidate.

[skipos]

18. Sorry, I just stated my opinion, just like you stated yours.

NY already knows Bloomberg and isn't that into him. If the state that knows him best isn't that into him, no one else will be, despite the fact that he can pump money into the campaign like Ross Perot. The same Ross Perot who won not a single state.

There is a facination with 3rd party candidates on DU that the rest of the country doesn't share. If Nader, Perot, Wallace, Thurmond, T Roosevelt, etc couldn't do it, I highly doubt Bloomberg could.

[snowbear]

6. How many Independents can run at once?

..... Anyone know?

[cali]

9. there's no limit. n/t

[Kucinich4America]

11. There's no such thing as a limit on candidates, at least not nationally.

States have varying rules concerning how early you have to declare candidacy to be on the ballot. Some have a required number of signatures before you can run. And some states also say that a candidate who loses the primary cannot run in the general under a different party. (unfortunately, Connecticut is not one of those states, or we would have been rid of Holy Joe in 2006) :evilfrown:

[Kucinich4America]

7. Depends on who the "Dem" and "Repuke" candidates are.

If either one drives away the natural base of their party, the "indy" candidates are likely to benefit from it.

I don't care who the Pukes nominate, but this should be enough of a clue to wake up Democrats into taking this one VERY seriously.

[hayu_lol]

10. To further muddy up the waters...

don't forget that the Greens have Cynthia McKinney at this point.

[cali]

12. And there's also the Constitution party and god knows what else n/t

[Kucinich4America]

16. Yes, but all those minor parties are always there.

I doubt they would get any more votes than they ever do. Even Cynthia McKinney isn't exactly well known outside of Georgia, except among Liberals here at DU. Personally, I think she got ass-raped (metaphorically speaking) out of her congressional seat, and that never should have happened, but that doesn't mean she's ready to be President. I don't see her as much of a drain on the votes.

Bloomberg or Hagel could be more of a realistic threat. Mikey's got the cash, and Chuck's got ES&S.

[sniffa]

13. the repub candidate wins

i think Bloomberg will take a huge chunk from the Dems, and Paul takes a little amount from the Dems.

R-38; D-35; I-23; I-2; I-1; Other-1.

[cali]

17. it all depends on who the puke is. If it's Huckabee

and Clinton for the dems, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Bloomberg won. If it's Romney, he might very well win. And the amount of money that Bloomberg would spend is a serious consideration. Plus, if he ran with someone like Hagel, he'd boost his odds even more- and take more repuke votes.

[Olney Blue]

15. These independents would like weaken the GOP vote.

[NV Whino]

19. A perfect scenario

to dump the electoral college.