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The Draft Bloomberg movement was a political draft movement in the United States that launched in 2007[1] as an effort to convince New York CityMayorMichael Bloomberg to run for President of the United States as an independent candidate in the 2008 election.[2][3] The movement ended for that election cycle on February 28, 2008, when Bloomberg formally announced that he would not run for president.[4]
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 in 2012.[5][6][7] Eight years later, he eventually entered the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and lost, after winning only the territory of American Samoa, while missing the 15% threshold for proportional delegates in several states.
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.[8] 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, prior to the Board's deadline, to put the party on the ballot for president in Virginia.[9] 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.[10]
There had been speculation of drafting Bloomberg to run as a presidential candidate on the Unity08 ticket.[11] On January 10, 2008, the organization released a statement announcing that two of its co-founders, Doug Bailey and Gerald Rafshoon, were leaving Unity08 and launching a national draft movement to entice Bloomberg to run as an independent candidate.[12][13]
この運動への支持は主に、二大政党が提示する選択肢に不満を持つ無党派層の有権者から寄せられた。漫画「ディルバート」の作者スコット・アダムス[ 14 ]と起業家マーク・キューバン[ 15 ]は、それぞれのブログでこの運動を認め、ブルームバーグの大統領選出馬の可能性について好意的なコメントを寄せた。政治コンサルタントのダグ・ベイリーとジェラルド・ラフショーンは、ブルームバーグの擁立のためにUnity08運動を離脱した[ 13 ] 。
2010年10月、マイケル・ブルームバーグ擁立委員会は、ブルームバーグ氏に独立系、アメリカ独立党、緑の党の党員を集めて実行可能な第三党を結成するよう説得することを期待して、運動を再開すると発表した。[ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 16 ]ブルームバーグ擁立委員会がこのアプローチを選んだのは、2010年10月の世論調査でアメリカ人の58%が第三の主要政党を望んでいることが示され、ブルームバーグ氏は2012年の大統領選に出馬するつもりはないと述べていたためである。[ 17 ]