Mayor Bloomberg is headed to primary battleground New Hampshire Friday, fueling speculation he’s planning a 2012 presidential run.

The mayor will be the first speaker in a presidential lecture series at Dartmouth College, alma mater of gal pal Diana Taylor.

The speech comes as the third-term mayor has been raising his political profile, including making a trip to Milwaukee today to endorse Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett in his bid for governor of Wisconsin.

“I think it’s in his interest as a lame duck mayor to be appearing to run for higher office. It helps his political currency,” said Columbia University’s Steven Cohen.

But voters shouldn’t read too much into his visit to the Granite State, home to the nation’s first presidential primary in 2012. “I am not running for President,” he insisted recently.

(Source: NY Daily News)