--David Gergen, 360 ContributorStories in the Washington Post and NYT have set off some buzz among political commentators over whether Mike Bloomberg is going to jump into the presidential race.
In my judgment, any short list of the most able public leaders in the country would have Bloomberg on it. Still, I think he is a long way from deciding about an independent race.
The more immediate question for me is whether the bloom is coming off the Huckleberry rose in Iowa. Polls show that he has slipped back into a dead heat with Romney there.
Ed Rollins, his new campaign director, believes that a series of anti-Huckebee ads by Romney are taking their toll because Huckabee doesn't have the money to answer them effectively on television.
But I suspect that his startling responses to the Bhutto assassination are having a significant impact, too. Rarely have I witnessed a major candidate answer questions about a foreign crisis with such ineptness. As AC asks so often, "What was he thinking?"
Huckabee could wind up doing Romney a big favor. Earlier, Romney was expected to win so easily in Iowa that the press might have written it off. Now, if he beats Huckabee, he can legitimately claim a more important victory.
With a three-way deadlock on the Democratic side, the Thursday caucuses may hold more of a key to the nominations than anyone might have thought a few months ago.
Happy New Year to one and all!
