That’s Darn Near Ross Perot Numbers There

Kevin Sheekey should take heart in the numbers and the unqualified support in the highest reaches of the 10021 zip code for Hizzoner’s bid for higher office:

While nobody outright endorsed Mr. Bloomberg, the enthusiasm from the city’s heavy hitters offers an indication of just how seriously the mayor would be taken if he ran. Mr. Bloomberg is still insisting he is not running, but his decision to drop his Republican Party affiliation last week is being interpreted as a precursor to an independent bid.

Yesterday, a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll found Mr. Bloomberg would garner 17% of the vote in a matchup against Senator Clinton, who would get 41%, and Mayor Giuliani, who would get 38%.

The president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, Leslie Gelb, a former New York Times correspondent, praised Mr. Bloomberg, saying the mayor has shown that he “masters issues” and adding that “he is at least as qualified as the hordes in the ring now.”

“None of them would do a better job,” Mr. Gelb told The New York Sun. “In terms of qualifications for the job, they don’t overmatch him at all.”

And if that’s not a resounding plug for the man — “I don’t see anyone better” — there’s the tried and true “tolerant parent” line, the likes of which you may remember from winter break of your sophomore year:

[Senior chairman and co-founder of the Blackstone Group, Pete] Peterson, the chairman of the board at the Council on Foreign Relations and the president of Concord Coalition, a bipartisan group that promotes fiscal responsibility, said, “I think Mike Bloomberg would do a great job at virtually anything he decided to do, including being president of the United States.”