Third-Party Candidates Could Help Democrats, Poll Shows

If Mayor Bloomberg and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas run for president as third-party candidates, their White House bids appear likely to benefit a Democratic candidate, according to a national survey by Rasmussen Reports.

In a two-way race between Mitt Romney and Senator Obama, Mr. Obama leads Rasmussen's poll by nine percentage points. When Messrs. Bloomberg and Paul are added to the list of possible candidates, Mr. Obama's lead grows to 12 percentage points, or 42% of the total vote; Mr. Paul receives 8% of the vote and Mr. Bloomberg pulls in 6%.

Senator Clinton leads a similar hypothetical match-up with Mitt Romney by five percentage points, but she surges to a 14-point lead if Messrs. Bloomberg and Paul enter the race.

In a race between Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain, Mr. Obama's 5-point lead grows to a 7-point lead when Messrs. Bloomberg and Paul are added to the equation.

Twenty-six percent of voters surveyed said it was very likely or somewhat likely Mr. Bloomberg would run for president.

The survey of 800 likely voters was conducted on January 21 and 22 and has a sampling error of 3.5%, up or down.