Over the weekend in Oklahoma, there was a meeting of Bloomberg with some centrist folks with ties to Washington, from which a few of us were cautiously wondering if we might see a viable third party candidate (Bloomberg, specifically) emerge.
The New York Times suggests, however, that Obama’s victory in Iowa, and subsequent surge may be deflating centrist prospects in ‘08, as political demand for moderation and centrism wanes in the presence of a candidate with the “change” franchise seemingly locked up. Quoting the Times:
Mr. Obama has stressed that he wants to move beyond gridlocked politics and usher in an era of national unity. A key organizer of the effort to draft Mr. Bloomberg for a presidential run acknowledged in an interview on Monday that that Mr. Obama’s rise could be problematic.
“Obama is trying to reach out to independent voters, and that clearly would be the constituency that Mike Bloomberg would go after,” said Andrew MacRae, who heads the Washington chapter of Draft Mike Bloomberg for President 2008. “An Obama victory does not make it impossible, but it certainly makes it more difficult.”
Given that the last I heard, Clinton still had a hefty amount of support in some of the large, delegate rich states still on the primary docket, and that would have me thinking it’s a bit premature to start picturing Obama in the White House.
However, I suppose that this evening’s results in New Hampshire, and the subsequent spinning, could change enough folks minds.
That being said…an interesting idea that has crossed my mind — I wonder how a Bloomberg/Obama or Obama/Bloomberg ticket would fare in a 3 way race with Clinton and whomever emerges from the GOP brawl.