As the actual presidential candidates settled down in New Hampshire, noncandidate Michael Bloomberg kicked off his sideshow in Oklahoma last night, arriving at Senator David L. Boren's house with an armful of Junior's cheesecakes with which to fuel their two-day confab on how to stop “partisan polarization” in Washington. Will the solution they come up with be a Bloomberg run for the White House? It had better be, because we're all getting kind of tired of asking the question, and the unflagging enthusiasm of the Bloomberg for President people is starting to look really kind of awkward. One thing is certain, as the AP this morning pointed out, Bloomberg's language about running seems to have changed perceptibly in the past few months. Below, a brief history of the shifting nature of Hizzoner's denials.

GQ, November, 2007: "I have said I am not running. I have ruled it out."

City Hall press conference, December 18, 2007: "If I was going to run, I know exactly who to go to."

Today show, January 3, 2008: "I am not a candidate."

You know, yet.

Another New Yorker in White House Race? [AP]