Speculation is heating up that Michael Bloomberg, the shorter man’s Donald Trump, is considering a run for President. No one in America really wants Michael Bloomberg in the White House, but if the Republicans and Democrats conspire to nominate two people with unfavorables in the low-60s (Trump and Clinton), then Bloomberg may well sense an opportunity.

Michael R. Bloomberg has instructed advisers and associates to draw up plans for a potential independent campaign in this year’s presidential race. His advisers said he was galled by Donald J. Trump’s dominance of the Republican field, and troubled by Hillary Clinton’s stumbles and the rise of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on the Democratic side.

Mr. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, has in the past contemplated running for the White House on a third-party ticket, but always concluded he could not win. A confluence of unlikely events in the 2016 election, however, has given new impetus to his presidential aspirations.

Mr. Bloomberg, 73, has already taken concrete steps toward a possible campaign, and has indicated to friends and allies that he would be willing to spend at least $1 billion of his fortune on it, according to people briefed on his deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his plans.

People ask me all the time if I would vote for Donald Trump in the general election, if he were the nominee. The simple answer is, “I’m not sure.” If Trump gets the nomination, this would be the first time in my adult life that my vote was up for grabs in the general election. I would need Trump to convince me that he would be a better President than Hillary, which is not at all something that I am convinced of, even though I think Hillary would be one of the worst Presidents we’ve ever had.

The entry of Bloomberg into the race would complicate things quite a lot for my personal voting decision, in a Trump/Clinton scenario. Bloomberg is every bit the nanny state liberal at heart that Trump is, which means he would never even normally get a second look from me. But Trump is just as bad as Bloomberg on policy. Moreover, Trump has surrounded himself with nut jobs like charlatans like Katrina Pierson and I cannot imagine a White House run by these people. I think his Presidency would likely be an epic national disaster and I can reasonably say Bloomberg’s might be better, even if I do have to protect my soda with my illegal shotgun. Moreover, whatever damage Bloomberg caused the country would not be laid at the foot of the GOP.

So what I’m saying here is, in a three way race between Bloomberg, Trump and Clinton, Bloomberg might well have the early edge with a guy who’s voted conservative Republican all his life. Which might really mean that he will win.