Over at First Read, Chuck Todd & Co write of Bloomberg:

A Boon For The Democrats? New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg capped off a VERY busy political day yesterday by filing paperwork changing his voting status from Republican to unaffiliated. Why now? Bloomberg’s move now means every national poll will begin including him in three-way match-ups, and that in and of itself forces the Beltway chattering class to begin assessing the “who does he hurt” between now and the end of the primary season. And it gives him an opportunity to begin actually exploring a run by traveling to states that don’t touch oceans. Looking at voting patterns and the strength of both parties’ bases, a true three-way race may help the Democrats more than the Republicans. Why? It’s simple — the South. The irony of a Bloomberg candidacy is that it could make the Democrats more competitive in the South because their 35% base vote in the South is made up of die-hard Democrats.

I’m not sure I buy this, not so much because I think the reasoning is flawed so much as I think it’s too early for any of this sort of speculation. Things are so fluid right now, who knows what a Bloomberg entry would do down the road? Still, it seems reasonable to ask: Would a four-foot-tall, lispy, Jewish New York billionaire liberal really siphon off a lot votes from a Republican in the South instead of a Democrat? Again, I think it’s too early to tell, but Bloomberg’s nanny-statism is far, far, far closer to Hillary’s point of view than it is to any of the Republican contenders, Giuliani included. Moreover, is it inconceivable that the logic Todd & Co. use about the South might also have applicability in the Northeast and California? Splitting the limousine liberal vote in New York, New Jersey, Conn., California and Mass. could change the dynamics for a Republican quite favorably (depending on the Republican). Indeed, the Republican contender wouldn’t need to actually win all or almost any of these states in this scenario. He could however force a Hillary or an Obama to spend time and money in areas a Democrat should have locked up. Anyway, I have no idea what a Bloomberg candidacy would do to the race come the Spring. But I’m pretty sure no one else does either.