Bloomberg: Obama 'credible, formidable' in 2012

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Sunday that President Barack Obama is a "credible, formidable candidate" for reelection and praised Rick Perry and Mitt Romney for the very things that have hindered them in the Republican presidential campaign.

"He would be a credible, formidable candidate," Bloomberg, an independent who has registered as both a Republican and a Democrat, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "The president is a very viable candidate, and you're going to have a real horse race no matter who the Republican nominee is."

Bloomberg, who said he'll "probably not endorse a candidate in the 2012 election, also weighed in on the GOP presidential nominating contest, saying that he's troubled by some anti-science positions in the Republican field. But Bloomberg did praise Perry for his 2007 executive order requiring sixth-grade girls to receive the HPV vaccine and said Romney's health care plan for Massachusetts worked.

"To accuse Perry of doing something wrong with the vaccine when he probably did what's right, to accuse Romney of doing something wrong with health care in Massachusetts, which in all fairness turned out to be the only health care change that has really worked" is not right, Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg also offered praise to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is again said to be considering entering the GOP presidential race, calling him "a good governor."

"If he wants to run, he certainly should just get in there and do it," Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg also rapped Obama for using billionaire investor Warren Buffett as an example for why taxes should be increased on the wealthy.

"The Buffett thing is just theatrics," Bloomberg said. "If Warren Buffett made his money from ordinary income rather than capital gains, his tax rate would be much higher than his secretary's."