“Michael Bloomberg Will Not Enter Presidential Race”

NYT:

Michael R. Bloomberg, who for months quietly laid the groundwork to run for president as an independent, will not enter the 2016 campaign, he said Monday, citing his fear that a three-way race could lead to the election of a candidate who would imperil the security and stability of the United States:Donald J. Trump.

In a forceful condemnation of his fellow New Yorker, Mr. Bloomberg said Mr. Trump has run “the most divisive and demagogic presidential campaign I can remember, preying on people’s prejudices and fears.” He said he was alarmed by Mr. Trump’s threats to bar Muslim immigrants from entering the country and to initiate trade wars against China and Japan, and he was disturbed by Mr. Trump’s “feigning ignorance of David Duke,” the white supremacist leader whose support Mr. Trump initially refused to disavow….

But Mr. Bloomberg balked at the prospect of a race against Mr. Trump andHillary Clinton, who has established a dominant lead over Mr. Sanders on the Democratic side. In his column, Mr. Bloomberg said he could not in good conscience enter a race that could lead to a deadlock in the Electoral College — and to the election of Mr. Trump, or perhaps Senator Ted Cruz of Texas…..

Trevor Potter, the election lawyer who was counsel to John McCain’s 2008 campaign, was retained to assemble legal teams to handle local and state ballot-access issues, and address constitutional questions that could arise from an inconclusive result in the Electoral College.

A ballot-access consultant, Michael Arno, leased nearly a dozen offices in Texas and North Carolina to begin gathering signatures to place Mr. Bloomberg on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

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