In Full Bloomberg

"I’ve got the greatest job in the world and I intend to keep doing it," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Wednesday afternoon, denying he currently has any plans to run for president as an independent.

Bloomberg has said this publicly for years even as he privately discussed the notion with friends — "I could easily put up half a billion," he speculated at one dinner party — and even while his underlings continue to talk about the ways a Bloomberg Presidency could happen.

It’s all part of the Bloomberg Dance.

The questions at today’s press conference came on the heels of Bloomberg’s decision to leave the GOP, immediately after his participation in a conference about bridging the partisan divide, and following a trip on which he said American politicians are failing the public and Washington, DC, is "sinking into a swamp of dysfunction."

Right after his insistence today he has no plans to run for president, the billionaire said that when it comes to the presidential race, "I’m confident that this country will have options. I do think the more people that run for office the better."

And he said the public needs someone else to provide leadership. "I think there’s a great challenge ahead. We have international challenges, we have domestic challenges."

"I’m particularly upset that the big issues of the times keep getting pushed to the back and we focus on small things that are only important inside the beltway," said the man not running for president.

"When you talk to people around the country they care who is going to pay their Social Security, they care about who is going to pay their medical care, they care about immigration they care about our reputation overseas," he continued. "It’s issue after issue."

Bloomberg spoke disdainfully about the presidential debates — and the participants. "Listen to the dialogue about overseas things, particularly Iraq," he said. "We keep talking about how we got to where we are instead of how we are going forward." Said the former CEO, "it is easy to criticize it is much more complex to come up with solutions for the future."

Said the man who has been a Democrat, a Republican, and an independent within the course of six years, "it’s my perception that government at all levels is becoming more partisan instead of less."

Bloomberg said that he’s "going to speak out on those issues and by not being affiliated with a party I’m going to have a better opportunity to do that."

I’ll bet.

- jpt