Bloomberg's policy crusades could pose obstacles with voters

[...] the gun and public health positions his supporters have hailed as visionary — and, in some cases, have been adopted by municipalities nationwide — could prove to be hurdles for voters, particularly Republicans, if the business media mogul launches a third-party presidential bid.

For some, Bloomberg has been defined by the multi-million dollar National Rifle Association ad campaigns warning members that their right to bear arms was in jeopardy.

Gun control is a hard sell with many Republicans as well as some independents and Democrats, meaning a huge swath of voters could be out reach for an independent candidacy that would need support across party and ideological lines to succeed.

Back in 2001, the political novice only drew one reporter to cover his fledgling mayoral bid during a campaign stop in Queens.

Four years later, soon after he was elected to a second term, Bloomberg found himself in a Brooklyn emergency room as doctors tried in vain to save the life of a police officer who had been shot.

Feinblatt credits the mayor's group for getting companies such as Facebook to ban online private gun ads and for pushing six more states to pass background checks.

[...] trans fats were banned in city restaurants, a move the Food Drug and Administration emulated on a national scale nearly a decade later.

Bloomberg's social policy, mixed with conservative economic touchstones, seems unlikely to be an instant hit with voters if he runs.