NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg, no longer a potential presidential candidate, said Thursday that the candidates are starting to reflect his brand of bipartisanship and that his endorsement is up for grabs.
The billionaire mayor, who is friendly with Republican John McCain as well as Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, finally put to rest more than two years of speculation that he would launch an independent bid for the White House. He said he had thought “long and hard” about whether to run.
“The candidates that are emerging, I think in all fairness, are showing some hopeful signs of understanding the need for independent leadership,” Bloomberg told reporters. “And I believe that the most productive role I can play is to continue pushing them in that direction.”
