An independent president?

We haven't had a major centrist candidate for president since Perot, but it could happen again this year. First of all the 2008 election starts off completly unpredictable with no incumbent, and no clear cut favorite for either party, which creates the best possible enviornment for an alternitive to Democrats and Republicans.

Right now the likely name of that candidate would be New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has associated with the New York Independence Party, and has the financial resources to fund a campaign. The other thing thats out there is Unity08, which plans on endorsing a candidate, while Bloomberg very well could be their choice they do open up an avenue for someone else, although at this point it is unclear if they will be able to do much for a candidate as they are meaningless if all they provide is an endorsement and a few thousand dollars. Unlike The Democrat and Republican candidates I wouldn't expect any announcment in the next month or two, as the lack of a nomination process means no major need to gain support to early. If you recall in 2002 Perot jumped in a little to early, and ended up paying the price for that as the momentum turned in the wrong direction around September.