Bloomberg Meets With Ballot Access Expert

The New York Sun reports:

AUSTIN, Texas — Mayor Bloomberg met today with the ballot access expert and campaign manager for Ross Perot's third-party presidential bid, a sign of the multibillionaire's seriousness about a possible independent run.

Mr. Bloomberg met privately with Clay Mulford, who is well-versed in third-party ballot access and served as campaign manager for Mr. Perot, according to an individual close to the mayor. Mr. Perot sought the presidency in 1992 and 1996. The lunch meeting with Mr. Mulford comes less than two months before Mr. Bloomberg would be able to start gathering signatures to get on the ballot and meet Texas's early deadline.

If Mr. Bloomberg wants a chance at winning the state's large slice of electoral votes — 34 — he would need to collect about 74,100 signatures by May 12, and cannot begin circulating petitions here until March 5. Not only does he have a short window to petition, the signatures need to be from Texas residents who did not vote in a party primary.

Earlier today, during a news conference, Mr. Bloomberg was asked about the significance of being in Texas, with its early ballot deadline. He seemed irritated with the question, having said only a moment earlier that he is "not a candidate" despite all the calls for him to run.

"I just said, I'm not a candidate — it couldn't be clearer," he said. "Which of the words do you not understand? People have urged me to do it but I'm not a candidate."

Despite his public denials, Mr. Bloomberg has been consulting with people such as Mr. Mulford and is conducting a sophisticated analysis of voter data in all 50 states to better understand his chances as a third-party candidate. Aides have said he would delay a decision until after the major parties produce clear front-runners.

Making a move in Texas is not easy. Ballot access is notoriously difficult in the state, according to an independent political strategist, Dean Barkley, who managed Kinky Friedman's independent gubernatorial campaign here in 2006.

"Texas is your biggest problem, and it starts on March 5, so if he's going to do it, he's going to have to start fairly soon organizing the effort," Mr. Barkley said.

What's laughable is:Bloomberg doesn't need to even waste his time trying to get on the ballot in Texas.A gun grabbing Mayor from New York isn't exactly the winning ticket in Texas.