OK, so let’s assume for the sake of this exercise—or maybe just because we feel like it—that Michael Bloomberg is still actively considering a run for president.

Conventional wisdom was that Bloomberg would be more likely to run if Romney, who had fashioned himself the conventional, party-line conservative in the race, became the nominee, leaving moderate Republicans and Republican-leaning independents up for grabs. So now that he’s not around to stand in the way of John McCain, a presumptive nominee with, presumably, much wider appeal, what effect could it have on Bloomberg’s calculation?

I asked two (partisan) consultants.

Susan Del Percio, a Republican, said it makes a Bloomberg run harder to imagine. “McCain is the front-runner and he’s secured that with Mitt Romney dropping out, which makes it more unlikely that Michael Bloomberg would run,” she said.

Hank Sheinkopf, a Democrat, didn’t think it meant much of anything. “The departure of Mitt Romney is good for Romney, so he can go home and count his money instead of wasting it, and it doesn’t mean a thing for Mike Bloomberg,” he said, because “he’s not in.”

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