WASHINGTON – Mayor Bloomberg has been receiving secret foreign-policy briefings from a former Clinton adviser – the strongest indication yet that Hizzoner is weighing a bid for the White House, it was revealed last night.
The tutoring sessions are being conducted by a one-time US ambassador to the United Nations, Nancy Soderberg, who served as an adviser to President Bill Clinton and who is known as “Bloomberg’s Condi” by insiders, according to the Huffington Post Web site, which broke the story.
The briefings are said to have been wide ranging, covering nuclear proliferation, the defense budget and Iraq.
Soderberg, a distinguished visiting professor at the University of North Florida, was reportedly tapped for the job because she is not currently associated with any presidential campaign.
The revelation comes amid the mayor’s repeated denials that he is considering a possible third-party entry into the 2008 election. His term as mayor is up in 2009.
In June, Bloomberg fueled speculation that he might jump into the 2008 contest when he changed his party affiliation from Republican to independent.
He also has been traveling the country extensively in recent months, and he has made several trips abroad this year, including jaunts to Mexico, England, Ireland and Israel.
Stu Loeser, the mayor’s spokesman, declined to comment on the report.
With Republicans divided among what is seen as an unusually hard-to-love field for the party, Bloomberg could dramatically reshape the race if he decided to throw in his hat.