As Republican presidential candidates were debating in Dearborn, Michigan, former possible White House contender Sen. Chuck Hagel was off to deliver a speech at Columbia University which just happens to be in the city ruled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who’s often mentioned as a possible independent candidate for president.

Hagel, of Nebraska, stoked speculation earlier this year about running on an independent ticket with Bloomberg but then begged off last month.

Just before departing for Manhattan, during an interview in Washington on Tuesday with Reuters that focused mainly on the Iraq war, the 61-year-old Republican raised the possibility of somebody making an independent bid for president next year.

Asked who might be so bold, Hagel responded: “I have no idea. But I think Bloomberg is someone who has obviously been talked about. He’s got the ability. He’s got the money.”

Hagel said he had never talked “specifically” about a Bloomberg-Hagel ticket. “We talked about what it would take for an independent ticket to win.” 

As for his political plans, Hagel said he still has no idea what he will do after his Senate term ends in early 2009, but he added, “I have said that I don’t intend to be a candidate for any office” next year.

Bloomberg — who is independently wealthy and could likely finance his own bid – has said he is not running for president next year as an independent, but that still has not killed off speculation.

Hagel’s advice: “I don’t think he should get in unless he thinks he has a real opportunity to win it and I don’t think he would.” 

– Writing by Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell