WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Former New York Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg could attract widespread voter support by presenting himself as a level-headed adult candidate if he enters the US presidential election as an Independent, but the record of history suggests he could not win, historians told Sputnik.
"Bloomberg is a professional ‘Adult in the Room’," Ohio Northern University Associate History Professor Robert Waters told Sputnik on Monday. "He sees himself as the guy who will stand up to the yahoos, compromise with the other side and run an efficient and business-oriented good government."
On Saturday, the New York Times reported that Bloomberg, who was elected as mayor three times, was considering entering the US presidential contest as an Independent.
Waters predicted that if Bloomberg decided to run, and if elected, he would seek to court elements of the big business right and the reform left in US politics at the same time.
"Just as [when Bloomberg ran] New York City, he will make business and the establishment happy while working with the Left and neutralizing them by pushing through their social policies — from gay rights to no more Big Gulps [giant-sized, unhealthy soda drinks]," he noted.
"In a lot of ways, [Bloomberg] is the modern version of the old New York reformers who were humorously known as ‘goo-goos’. And unlike Trump to this point, he'll reach into his bank vault and spend it all to win if he has to," he added.
Waters also suggested that Bloomberg was much more likely to run if Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist, won the Democratic presidential nomination, than if Hillary Clinton, the increasingly challenged party frontrunner, captures it.
"I think what got Bloomberg interested was the suddenly very real possibility that we will have a Trump vs. Sanders election in November… If Hillary is the nominee, I don't think Bloomberg runs," he explained.
Waters warned that if Bloomberg decided to run, he would face enormous opposition from both the Republican and Democratic political establishments.
"State Republicans and Democrats have traditionally worked together to keep third parties off the ballot… Historically, you needed passionate supporters to make it on the ballot," Waters pointed out.
Bloomberg has a strong record of financial accomplishment if he chooses to run on it, retired Brown University Assistant Professor of Economics Barry Friedman told Sputnik.
"Being elected to three terms in New York City is pretty impressive. The city bounced back from [the terrorist attacks of] 2001, and the financial crisis of 2008 very well without taking on tremendous debt," he pointed out.
Friedman described Bloomberg as an excellent communicator who knows where to get the best talent from his experience in running a major global business news service.
