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Bloomberg Won’t Run for President in 2012

Billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared he won’t run for president Sunday, while several Democrats dismissed the possibility that President Barack Obama might face a primary challenger.

“I’m not going to run for president,” Bloomberg said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I’ve got a great job. I’m going to finish up my 1,100 and whatever number days it is left to go, and I’ll leave the politics to the experts.”

Bloomberg reiterated that he won’t change his mind, “no way, no how.”

White House senior adviser David Axelrod, meanwhile, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he does not expect a primary challenge for Obama.

The biggest lament he hears from Democrats, he said, is, “You’ve done so much, how come people aren’t responding?”

Axelrod said Obama’s political standing is fairly good compared with other presidents who have faced a difficult economy at this stage in their presidency.

“Until we complete the recovery, until we get that unemployment rate down, you’re going to have static out there,” he said.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he also does not see a challenge to Obama.

“I think he will not get an opponent,” said Dean, who has served as governor of Vermont and chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Primary challenges against sitting presidents historically fail while weakening the president, which would be bad for the party, he added.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) dismissed talk of a primary on “Fox News Sunday.”

“No,” Van Hollen said when asked about the prospect. “There’s no challenge. Look, everybody’s on the same page. Everyone supports the same agenda.”

Melanie Starkey contributed to this report.

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