AUSTIN – Talk about political teases.

ERICH SCHLEGEL/DMN

Cycling champion Lance Armstrong (left) and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg meet cancer patient Marie McKinney (right) and friend Amber Teague at Brackenridge Hospital.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and cycling champion Lance Armstrong toured an Austin hospital together Friday, calling for a new national push to prevent and cure cancer and hinting at how very big a political future each may have.

Mr. Armstrong campaigned vigorously last year for a constitutional amendment to allow the state to issue bonds for cancer research, prompting speculation he might eventually run for office.

As for Mr. Bloomberg, the billionaire philanthropist mayor has been thought to be exploring an independent candidacy for president, though he denied Friday he was running.

"I am not a candidate," said Mr. Bloomberg, who was elected mayor as a Republican.

He then met privately over lunch with Ross Perot's son-in-law, Clay Mulford, a ballot access expert and Dallas attorney who served as general counsel for Mr. Perot's presidential campaigns, according to The Associated Press.

Soon, the mayor was en route to Los Angeles for an announcement today about infrastructure with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat.

Mr. Bloomberg reportedly has conferred with New York pollster Douglas Schoen in recent days and is actively working to burnish a desired public image as a high-minded problem solver who stands above partisanship and political rancor.

On Thursday, he pointedly separated himself from GOP presidential contenders by embracing the virtues of immigration in his annual state of the city speech.

On Friday, he began a sprint through Texas and California, two states rich with electoral votes.

To get on the November presidential ballot in Texas as an independent, he would have to obtain 74,108 signatures between March 5 and May 12, said Scott Haywood, spokesman for Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson. That's equal to 1 percent of the voter turnout in the last presidential general election in the state.

Signers cannot have voted in March 4's primary election, Mr. Haywood said.

At Austin's Brackenridge Hospital, Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Armstrong chatted with cancer patients who were at an outpatient center to receive chemotherapy.

Joined by former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, they said the country's leaders aren't doing enough about cancer. The mayor and Mr. Armstrong then were pelted with questions about presidential politics.

As Mr. Bloomberg demurred, Mr. Armstrong lobbed him a compliment.

"I'm sure there's a lot of questions about whether he's in or not in, but at the end of the day, he's representing an independent agenda and the best interests of the people," Mr. Armstrong said.

The mayor then reciprocated. "This state could do a lot worse," Mr. Bloomberg said. "He's exactly the kind of person that we need."