The World is Talking. Global Politics

"Buoyed by the still unsettled field," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg "is growing increasingly enchanted with the idea of an independent presidential bid, and his aides are aggressively laying the groundwork for him to run," the New York Times reports.

As we noted earlier, this weekend Bloomberg "will join Democratic and Republican elder statesmen at the University of Oklahoma in what the conveners are billing as an effort to pressure the major party candidates to renounce partisan gridlock."

Political Insider: "An independent presidential run by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg now looks like a near-certainty."