Draft Bloomberg movement

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The Draft Bloomberg movement was a political movement launched in 2007, in an effort to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for president.^[1]. The movement ended February 28, 2008 when Mayor Bloomberg formally announced that he had no plans to run for President.^[2].

1 Independent Greens of Virginia
2 Unity08 splinter group
3 Support for the movement
4 Notes

[edit] Independent Greens of Virginia

On January 1, 2008 Virginia's Independent Party, the Independent Greens of Virginia launched the first state petition drive in the nation to put Michael Bloomberg on the ballot for President. They started their petition drive in Independence, Virginia.^{[citation needed]}
On April 14, 2008 the Independent Greens of Virginia, submitted 10,271 petition signatures to the Virginia State Board of Elections to put Michael Bloomberg's name on the ballot for President in Virginia. [6]

[edit] Unity08 splinter group

There had been talk of drafting Bloomberg to run as a presidential candidate on the Unity08 ticket. 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.^[3]

[edit] Support for the movement

Support for the movement came primarily from independent voters unhappy with the choices the two major parties were offering. However, Dilbert creator Scott Adams^[4] and entrepreneur Mark Cuban^[5] were both supporters of the movement. Political consultants Doug Bailey and Gerald Rafshoon quit the Unity08 movement to work to draft Bloomberg^[6]