Even as the clock runs out on Mayor Bloomberg's presidential chances (the mayor himself said on Monday it was "getting close to being too late" for a third-party candidate to jump into the race), former Bloomberg pollster Doug Schoen (right) is keeping the White House fires burning.
The latest leap of logic came when Schoen told the New York Sun earlier this week that Ralph Nader's decision to run for president as a third-party candidate actually helps the mayor's chances because he will pull the Democratic field to the left just as presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain shifts to the right to satisfy GOP conservatives.
That, according to Schoen, leaves "a huge void in the middle" for someone like the mayor.
In other words, in the great tradition of Monty Python: "I'm not dead yet!..."
Next up: Doug Schoen's post-inauguration analysis of how the swearing-in of a new president leaves all kinds of room for a Bloomberg candidacy.
Karla Schuster