The New York Times suggests outgoing New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is unhappy with the slate of candidates running to succeed him.

“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… 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.”

First Read: “How much sway does Bloomberg really have though? Yes, he changed the rules to win a third term, but voters didn’t overwhelmingly send him back. He spent millions to win a race that should never been as close as it was. Candidates who decide to fall under Bloomberg’s spell about running ought to take a look at the 2009 results: Bloomberg didn’t crack 51%.”

The Houston Chronicle reports the legislative session that opens tomorrow will give Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) “a chance to burnish his credentials if he chooses to make another run for president in 2016.”

“But some are hard-pressed to imagine a session — or anything else — good enough to make voters forget his disastrous White House race that limped to an end just about a year ago… Perry turned into a punch line after a series of campaign missteps punctuated by his inability to remember all the federal departments he wanted to shut down, a debate lapse that entered the big leagues of embarrassing moments when he gave up with an ‘oops.'”

A computer glitch at Ticketmaster “has created frustration and outrage among hundreds of people who wanted to buy tickets to one of President Obama’s two official inaugural balls beginning Monday, only to find all of them have been sold,” the Washington Post reports.

Nate Cohn: “The Republicans could nominate a unifying candidate in the 2016 primaries–you never know–but a contested primary would probably break along geographic lines. In retrospect, the 2012 primary might have been a sneak preview. Even though Romney possessed vastly superior resources and acceded to every substantive demand of the right, the GOP primary electorate divided neatly between north and south. Southerners concerned with nominating an authentic conservative never embraced Romney: Despite the help of a divided field, Romney only broke 31 percent of the vote in one southern state, Florida. Geographic polarization ensured that the 2012 Republican presidential primary lasted until April. The fiscal cliff vote shows that such polarization is becoming the rule rather than the exception. If a blue-state Republican secures the GOP presidential nomination thanks to winner-take-all contests in blue states like New Jersey and California, Krauthammer might actually get his civil war.”

“I want to give him the space to make his own decision. I’ve announced my intention to run, but the reality is – is we’ve got a good Senator. He’s been loyal. He’s been there for a long time. And I think that he’s got a decision to make.”

— Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D), in an interview with CNN, on Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), whose seat he wants to run for in 2014.

The Boston Globe reports former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) “is dialing back his opposition to the pending nomination of former senator Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, saying he is willing to look past the Nebraska Republican’s comments about gays because it is more important that his views prevail on drawing down the war in Afghanistan and reducing wasteful defense spending.”

Frank is angling for the appointment to Sen. John Kerry’s (D-MA) seat should he resign to become secretary of state. The confirmation of Hagel could be one of the first votes for the new interim senator.