What would it take?

I know I just gave my ideal scenario a little while ago that would get Michael Bloomberg and Ron Paul involved in four-way run for president. Is that even possible? I think Ron Paul is more likely to run as an independent, but Bloomberg seems like he is still at least entertaining that idea despite his denials.

What would it take for him to run? First off, I don't think he would run if Obama wins the nomination. In this respect, Hillary's win tonight might start him thinking about things a bit more. I have a hard time believing he would step in the way of the first black person to win a major party's nomination. It just wouldn't look good. Perhaps more pragmatically, Bloomberg would have a more difficult time running against Obama than Hillary because they would both be running on principles of optimism and change.

The next question is whether Bloomberg would look at the Republican nominee before running. Of course he would. I think he would have a hard time justifying a run against McCain, who is a social moderate. But if Huckabee won the nomination, Bloomberg would have a wide open door. Everything I hear says Bloomberg's group has a specific set of criteria for running, and one of these pieces would be having two candidates at the opposite ends of the political spectrum so he could appeal to the middle. A race between Huckabee and Hillary would definitely meet this criteria.

If these two people end up winning, I think we just might see a Bloomberg emerge as a viable third party candidate. I know I would be pushing for it.