The Draft Bloomberg movement is a

political draft In elections in the United States, political drafts are used to encourage or pressure a certain person to enter a political race, by demonstrating a significant groundswell of support for the candidate. History 20th century Movements to draft ...

movement in the United States that launched in 2007 as an effort to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for President of the United States as an independent candidate in the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are ...

.Molla, Rani (2008-01-14
"Draft Bloomberg Movement Launched"
'' Time''. Retrieved 2010-05-01. The movement ended for that election cycle on February 28, 2008, when Bloomberg formally announced that he would not run for president. The movement relaunched in late 2010 as an effort to persuade Bloomberg to make a presidential bid and/or lead in the formation of a viable

third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a V ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gath ...

.Saul, Michael Howard (2010-10-14
"Bloomberg Supporters Plot Draft"
'' The Wall Street Journal''. Retrieved 2010-10-14.(2010-10-13
"Green Party Candidates Race to Join the Committee to Draft Michael Bloomberg Press Conference This Thursday"
PR Newswire. Retrieved 2010-10-18. Eight years later, he eventually entered the

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 3,979 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention held on August 17–20 to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 Uni ...

and lost.

Support from Independent Greens of Virginia

In January 2008, the Independent Greens of Virginia launched the first state petition drive in the nation to put Michael Bloomberg on the ballot for president. The party collected and submitted more than the minimum number of required petition signatures with Bloomberg's name to the

Virginia State Board of Elections The Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) was created in 1946 as a nonpolitical agency responsible for ensuring uniformity, fairness, accuracy and purity in all elections in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The SBE promotes the proper administration ...

, prior to the Board's deadline, to put the party on the ballot for president in Virginia. Despite these efforts, Bloomberg did not appear on the Virginia ballot in the 2008 election as a presidential candidate because, one day prior to the State's deadline for ballot submissions, he requested that the party remove his name.

Unity08 splinter group

There had been speculation of drafting Bloomberg to run as a presidential candidate on the

Unity08 Unity08 was an American political reform movement that sought to offer all voters an opportunity to directly engage in politics by ranking the most crucial issues facing the country, discussing them with the candidates and engaging in an online, ...

ticket. On January 10, 2008, the organization released a statement announcing that two of its co-founders,

Doug Bailey Doug Bailey (October 5, 1933 - June 10, 2013) was an American political consultant and founder of ''The Hotline'', a bipartisan, daily briefing on American politics. Life Douglas Lansford Bailey was born on Oct. 5, 1933, in Cleveland. After rec ...

and Gerald Rafshoon, were leaving Unity08 and launching a national draft movement to entice Bloomberg to run as an independent candidate.

Support for the movement in 2008

Support for the movement came primarily from independent voters unhappy with the choices the two major parties were offering.

Scott Adams Scott Raymond Adams (born June 8, 1957) is an American author and cartoonist. He is the creator of the syndicated ''Dilbert'' comic strip, and the author of several nonfiction works of satire, commentary, and business. ''Dilbert'' gained nation ...

, creator of the comic strip '' Dilbert'', and entrepreneur Mark Cuban acknowledged the movement on their respective blogs and made favorable comments regarding a potential Bloomberg presidential campaign. Political consultants

and Gerald Rafshoon quit the

movement to work to draft Bloomberg.

Relaunch for 2012 election campaign

In October 2010, The Committee to Draft Michael Bloomberg announced it was relaunching the movement in hopes of persuading Bloomberg to lead in bringing together independents, members of the

Independence Party of America The Independence Party of America (IPA) was a political party in the United States, founded on September 23, 2007 as a coalition of existing state parties bearing the Independence Party name. Its National Chairman was Frank MacKay, chairman ...

and Greens to form a viable third party. The Draft Bloomberg Committee choose this approach as polls in October 2010 showed 58% of Americans want a third major party, and Bloomberg has stated that he does not intend to seek the presidency in 2012.(2010-10-14
"Bloomberg: I’m Not Running For President"
CBS New York. Retrieved 2010-10-15.

References

External links

DraftMichael.com
official site of the Committee to Draft Michael Bloomberg
RunMikeRun.com
support site for Draft Bloomberg efforts
UniteforMike.com
archived site of Draft Bloomberg 2008 movement {{United States presidential election, 2012

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ...