Bloomberg Once Again Deflects Presidential Speculation

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was on CBS News' The Early Show this morning to talk about his call for a national carbon tax, but of course the conversation soon turned to his possible presidential aspirations.

Speculation over whether the popular billionaire mayor would run next year as an independent candidate heated up over the summer when Bloomberg announced he had changed his party affiliation from Republican to independent. But since then he has repeatedly denied that he was going to run.

Today on the Early Show was no different.

Co-anchor Harry Smith brought in this week's "Newsweek" cover story, in which Bloomberg's political adviser, Kevin Sheekey, says he has a plan for Bloomberg to run. In the article, Sheekey says that Bloomberg will run only if he can convince the mayor he can win the Electoral College.

Harry Smith then asked: "Why won't you announce now?"

Bloomberg then gave his standard answers to the question -- "Because I have 787, 86 days left… I have the greatest job in the world."

Smith pushed Bloomberg again, but he wouldn't take the bait.

"Look, I'm not a candidate for president," he said.

So will Bloomberg run? Perhaps only the mayor himself really knows the answer to that question. However, speculation was on the rise this week with the "Newsweek" article and the mayor on the cover. The headline: The Billion Dollar Wildcard.