BLOOMBERG DOESN'T WANT TO BE PEROT

Michael Bloomberg doesn't want to be the 2008 version of Ross Perot.

Perot was a loser. Bloomberg wants to be more than a spoiler, though he denies that he has any interest in being a presidential candidate.

On New Year's Eve, speaking to a national audience, Michael Bloomberg insisted that he was not going to get in the race.

On ABC's "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve", Republican turned Independent Mayor Michael Bloomberg told Seacrest in no uncertain terms that he will not make a bid for the Oval Office.

Seacrest, who more often finds himself in a tete-a-tete with Simon Cowell rather than the leader of Gotham, began the inquiry by commenting to Bloomberg's daughters, "I want your dad to answer this honestly. Will you run for president?"

Without hesitation, Bloomberg responded, "No, I will not run for president, but I will speak out to try to get people to really focus on the issues and to get rid of partisanship and special interests."

Simply put, Michael Bloomberg is a liar. If he wasn't considering a run, he wouldn't be determining whether he could be successful.

NEW YORK -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has quietly been polling and conducting a highly sophisticated voter analysis in all 50 states as he decides whether to launch an independent presidential bid, associates said Wednesday.

The exhaustive data collection started months ago, and when the review begins shortly, it will provide the data-obsessed billionaire businessman with the information he will use to decide whether to make a third-party run for the White House.

The scope of the research, details of which were revealed to The Associated Press, demonstrates how seriously Bloomberg is considering running for president despite his almost-daily denials that he isn't entering the race. The extensive coast-to-coast research effort shows that Bloomberg is willing to dig deep into his wallet simply to gauge his chances of winning and lining up the proper support network.

"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.

...Schoen says he is not working for Bloomberg now, but he is part of the mayor's inner circle and makes a convincing and well-researched case in his new book, "Declaring Independence," about how a third-party candidate such as Bloomberg could run for president and upset the election this year.

...Using the microtargeting model, research firms working for Bloomberg are gathering comprehensive information on voters throughout the country, such has who owns a home, has children in college, where they vacation, type of car or computer and past political support. All the puzzle pieces will then be arranged to create a picture of each individual.

That's creepy.

It's none of Bloomberg's business where I vacation.

Most of the data already exists in commercial databases that the multibillionaire Bloomberg can simply purchase. It will then be analyzed to determine how each voter fits into several categories: "strong supporter," "persuadable supporter," or "potential volunteer."

The article makes no mention of other voter categories, like "strongly opposed to Bloomberg," "no way in hell could be persuaded to support Bloomberg," or "potential volunteer for any candidate other than Bloomberg."

It's no secret that Bloomberg is spending big bucks on a possible presidential run. So why does he lie about it?

It makes him look so slimy.

SEACREST: Will you run for president?

BLOOMBERG: No, I will not run for president.

How is Bloomberg going to weasel his way out of that very black and white statement?

Will he walk for president instead? Hop? Skip? Jump?

I'm not afraid of Bloomberg's impact on the election.

He's a lib. He'd do far more harm to the Dems than to Republicans.

Knock yourself out, Bloomberg.