Scratch that, Bloomberg research chances

CNN:

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has launched a research effort to assess his chances in a potential bid for the presidency, a source close to the mayor told CNN.

The source said data is being gathered but that the mayor -- who has been widely speculated as being interested in running for the White House as an independent -- has not yet begun analyzing that data, the source said.

The source, who is intimately familiar with the mayor's deliberations, said Bloomberg has set early March as a timetable for making a decision.

Bloomberg, a former Democrat who was elected to the mayor's office as a Republican, joined a panel of moderate current and former lawmakers earlier this week at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

The group, made up of both Democrats and Republicans, called for a return to bipartisanship in government.