On Hardball with Chris Matthews last night, former president Jimmy Carter spoke about everything from his new memoirs to energy policy to the midterm elections. He also gave his thoughts on a possible 2012 presidential run by Mayor Bloomberg. He said, "I think it would be a mistake if he did, because he couldn't win, but he might prevent Obama from winning reelection. And what he would do was just guarantee that a Republican would move into the White House."
Matthews did his part to lead the former president into such soundbites (he opened the segment by saying that third parties "as you know tends to help the Republicans.") But Carter recalled from his 1980 presidential run, "Ronald Reagan got less than 51% of the votes, but he won because of a third party candidate." When asked if he thought a Bloomberg run would be "bad for the country," he said, "I think it would be better for the country if president Obama was re-elected." Oh, don't worry, Jimmy—Bloomberg will only step in if it's a real emergency.
