Mayor Bloomberg, who flirted with running for president in 2008 (but didn't) and may still harbor some White House hopes, is headed to New Hampshire for a speech next week. But it's not a political pit stop—Politico's Maggie Haberman first reported on the mayor's trip to Dartmouth College, where "He'll be giving the first-ever 'presidential lecture' - as in, president of the school -" on Friday.
Dartmouth President Jim Yong Kim tells the Wall Street Journal, "Our goal with the presidential lecture series is to supplement the classroom experience with real-life lessons on innovation, collaboration and leadership." And Dartmouth economics professor Sacerdote said, "Mayor Bloomberg is the quintessential choice to open this lecture series. So many issues of the day relate to New York, including national security, the financial meltdown, financial regulation, school reform, and the polarization of the American political system." Also: Bloomberg's girlfriend Diana Taylor graduated from Dartmouth and is on its board of trustees.
While New Hampshire is a critical primary state, Haberman points out, "It's worth bearing in mind that if the mayor actually does what some of his advisers want and runs - and I'm not convinced that he will - he wouldn't be running in the Granite State primary, or any for that matter, since he'd be an independent candidate." Bloomberg abandoned the Democratic party to join the Republican party for his first 2001 mayoral run; he dropped the Republican mantle in mid-2007, for his maybe-2008 presidential run.
