Bloomberg Conducting National Polls
Michael Bloomberg is conducting polls in all 50 states, the most concrete sign of his interest in running for president, reports the AP.
"They want a hard-headed sense of their chances,'' said Doug Schoen, who spearheaded Bloomberg's voter database efforts, known as microtargeting, for his two mayoral campaigns.
In November, Schoen told an audience at Baruch College, “Let me just say at the outset I don’t think he is going to run.”
What changed?
Obama Vs. McCain Polling Data
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 46.1
- 41.9
- Obama +4.2
Favorable Ratings
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 55.7
- 32.7
- +23.0
- McCain
- 52.4
- 34.7
- +17.7
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Seems clear to me what happened--with articles like "Last Stop for the Bloomberg '08 Express" showing up here, the Journal, the Times, and most other major national political publications, the Mayor was losing the credible threat of running for President that was keeping him from being a lame duck. If nothing else, a billionaire paying for some polling seems like a cheap way to advance a legislative agenda.