Only five members of the Committee to Draft Michael Bloomberg showed up last night for their weekly meeting (down 50 percent from last time we checked in) upstairs at Old Town Bar. It may have been the rain that kept people away, or maybe it was just the fact that Bloomberg himself told Dan Rather this week, "Nobody's going to elect me president of the United States." But the spirit of those five was not dampened, despite the rain and promise of defeat! Strategies for petition drives were crafted and plans for T-shirts were finalized. "My people say it's not at all over," said group leader Karin Gallet, who says she communicates regularly with current and former Bloomberg aides. "They say he's definitely still in the ball game." We'd tease them for their optimism, but they're probably right. Though if politics is a "ball game" and Bloomberg is, at best, a relief pitcher — does that make these guys the people in the bleachers with the big foam fingers?

Earlier: These Ten People Want to Make Bloomberg President