He's so special no one can replace him

From the NY Times:

It has been a bedrock assumption of this year’s race for New York City mayor: Michael R. Bloomberg and the muscular political operation that guided him to three electoral victories will coalesce around his favored candidate, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker.

But behind the scenes, a different reality is playing out.

High-powered advisers to Mr. Bloomberg — and even the mayor himself — have chewed over alternatives, joked about dream candidates and even floated the possibility of a mayoral run to at least five boldface figures, highlighting their worry that City Hall could fall into less nimble hands.

The conversations have occurred over dinners and by telephone, in tones both serious and playful. The prospects span the world of government and business, a group whose members dwell within the five boroughs and beyond the city’s borders.

Mr. Bloomberg has mused about a Mayor Charles E. Schumer with the Democratic senator from New York, and teased Mortimer B. Zuckerman, a fellow billionaire media mogul, about a possible bid. The mayor’s advisers raised the idea of a run with Edward G. Rendell, the former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania and mayor of Philadelphia, and with Edward Skyler, Mr. Bloomberg’s former top deputy in City Hall, according to several people.

The mayor’s most formal overture was delivered to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, perhaps Mr. Bloomberg’s most quixotic choice for the job. The mayor personally encouraged her to enter the race about a year ago, three people who were told about the discussions have told The New York Times.

The conversations suggest that Mr. Bloomberg and his aides long for somebody who can match his own blend of celebrity, success and self-assurance.

“The mayor believes he is special,” Mr. Rendell said in an interview in his Philadelphia office. “He wanted somebody at a very high level to come in to do a job he has often said to me — and he’s not the only person who says it — is the second most difficult job in the country.”

A spokesman for Ms. Quinn’s campaign, Josh Isay, declined to comment.