At the end, does it really matter where the money comes from? What really matters, at least to me, is to get the current occupant of the WH out ASAP.
This is what Oligarchy looks like.
1
Better Bloomberg should fund some scientists to study the Coronavirus, provide them all the tools they need, even study in China and tell us the truth about what's up.
Now that would be a public service.
Hey, Mike's heart is in the right place. STOP TRUMP. And it's his own money. If you find something on anyone of these ads which isn't true, I'd like to see it. I've seen several already and they seem pretty darn true and effective to me.
And, I'm voting for him in my state's primary. I want a rational, promise deliverable, sane and somewhat universally accepted president after the absolute corrupt and corrosive chaos this country has been put through these last 3+ years. Can't tell a joke? Great. I'll watch Bill Maher and Colbert for my laugh needs.
I want Mike for my presidential needs.
1
A politician gains votes by making his views known to the populace. Will wonders never cease!
Bloomberg can beat Trump. No one else has the resources.
I see a lot of republicans vote for Bloomberg none for Sanders !
If Bloomberg were to be elected the Democratic nominee, it would just be one more example of our current plutocracy.
When I get disheartened about changing the plutocracy, I look to the Irish Uprising of 1916 against the British Empire and to the Indian non-violent campaign against the British Empire, and to the fall of apartheid in South Africa. As Mandela said, it can seem impossible, until it is done.
1
Why choose republican Mike versus republican Trump?
They can compare racist comments and actions on stage?
They can compare NDA’s and misogyny?
They can compare their pocket books?
They can compare their authoritarian goals?
They can compare how they care about the GDP and Wall Streets welfare?
Why have Bloomberg if you can have Trump?
What are the consequences of total Wall Street ownership by republicans taking over the Democratic Party?
1
All that money spent and for what? In the end the Orange Haired One will win again and Bloomberg can go back to being a billionaire again, just a bit poorer. This whole Democrat campaign seems too focussed on beating each other. They almost never mention beating Trump.
Bloomberg is terrible at showmanship and 'debating' (verbal karate and rehearsed zingers)
But he's EXCELLENT when it comes to what actually matters in a president.
Candidates use whatever advantages they can to get their message out (big fundraisers, corporate donations, SuperPACS, low dollar online fundraising) and Bloomberg is using his advantage.
Every time I hear one of his ads my stomach churns. Not exactly what he wanted, is it?
You may not like the fact that Mike Bloomberg is a real, real billionaire - but one thing is for certain, Trump and Vladimir Putin hate the fact that Mike Bloomberg is a real, real billionaire.
Everything Trump would have loved to have been in NYC Mike has done and Trump never will.
And Mike has long believed that Climate Change is real and human caused and has been doing something about it not just since this campaign began but for over many years. And Guns? You want to talk about what his has done for Gun Control that Mr. Sanders has not? OK, didn't think so.
He's not gonna pass your purity test. But then who does? Trump?
I'm voting for Mike in my state's primary. We need to get some stuff done finally.
1
i like bloomberg more than i like sanders.
I think Bloomberg has advertised himself out of a job. You can't annoy people into voting for you.
Every time I see one of those ads come on, I change the channel...no substance.
We get it Mike. You think Trump is horrible, but what are YOU going to do. Lame, negative advertising turns people away.
1
I am so sick of Bloomberg commercials (that's what they are) that as soon as one starts I reach for the remote. He is now on the same level as the pharmaceutical ads with smiling, dancing, loving families, featuring a loved one suffering from a fatal illness. Enough already.
What Bloomberg is attempting to do is direct action rule by the power of wealth. He is putting the D in Disdain for Democrats as limousine liberal hypocrites in the ruling class. His existence in the race, as well as Steyer's is why Sanders and Warren are popular. Who owns the party? Right now the wealthy do. The financial elite. That's why "the Party" is opposed to Sanders. Sanders wants the party to represent Average working Americans. Bloomberg doesn't. Bloomberg thinks he should call the shots and preserve party rule for the financial elite. His message is simply that Trump is the wrong member of the financial elite to rule over America. Instead it should be him. He has the money to prove money rules.
Sanders has the votes to prove citizens of the US are their own Rulers through uncorrupted representation in our version of constitutional Democracy.
The charts are graphics of grotesque corruption in our political system. Shocking and alarming. If money really is speech, the class war is over. The financial elite won. Everyone else just lives here at their pleasure. Don't let that be our reality.
Bernie Sanders - former carpenter and low grade video maker before becoming a lifelong politician with next to no accomplishments to his name
Mike Bloomberg - started a multi-billion dollar company, successfully led the largest city in America and went on to become one of the most admired philanthropists in the world.
I'm with Mike
1
All the pearl-clutching and demagoguery about him "buying" the election is insane. Like him or not, he has self-funded what are by far the most effective and pointed anti-Trump ads of any candidate. Would you rather he didn't? Even before this he'd spent a reported $8 billion of his own money on left-center causes such as gun control and climate change. Again, would you rather he didn't? He is progressive on every major issue. I don't think he'd be in the race if Biden had been able to rally the center, but that hasn't happened. He honestly believes a Sanders/Warren wing ticket will doom us to another four years of Trumpism. And guess what...so do a lot of Democratic voters.
Mike Bloomberg needs to win in November. What will it take to beat Trump? Money, and lots of it. Mike also has the skills to be President. If you really want Trump gone, vote for a candidate who has a chance to do just that.
A friend from the Midwest, whose father was a prominent republican politician, advised me to vote for Bloomberg as he will get the votes of all the traditional non-trump Republicans. I think she makes a valid argument. However, others have said that he won’t get the minority votes that traditionally vote democratic. I am still on the fence for Super Tuesday. I wish Bernie would just go away, as I fear once again he will cause the Democrats to loose the election. He is too far left and strident. If he is the nominee I will vote for him because I hate Trump, but I will not be happy.
This is a tough one for me. Bloomberg has a lot more baggage than I ever imagined. It would be a travesty, but If he does, somehow, manage to buy the Democratic nomination----I will vote for him, because it is absolutely necessary to get Trump out. I do wonder, though, how many Bloomberg voters will vote for Sanders if he is the nominee. We know, for example, that Bret Stephens won't vote for Sanders. How many more are there like that?
In the liberal enclaves of LA, especially wealthy ones, Bloomberg has emerged as the candidate of choice for many of those who are not into Sanders. I see Bloomberg stickers around town amongst the Bernie ones.
It's the ads, but also the fact that he seems in many ways like the most normal candidate. And one with enough money and guts to defeat Trump.
This Democratic Presidential Primary is generational. My father wants Bloomberg. My son wants Sanders. I'm both literally and figuratively "in the middle", I like BOTH Bloomberg AND Sanders for different reasons. The Democratic Party has a "Big Tent," we include a diverse range of people regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or economic status. The Democratic Party needs to focus on our strengths and what unites us, not on what divides us. We cannot discriminate against ANY Presidential candidate based on their wealth or lack thereof.
The Democratic Party of 2020 may want to consider taking a page from the playbook of the late John F. Kennedy in the 1960 Presidential Election. As you know, Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson were rivals and opposites. Kennedy was a "liberal" North-Easterner and Johnson was a Protestant Southerner. Yet, Kennedy invited his rival, Lyndon B. Johnson, who had finished second on the Democratic Presidential primary ballot, to be his Vice-Presidential running mate. The liberal Northerner Kennedy understood that without Johnson's conservative Southern supporters, he could not beat Nixon in the General Election of 1960.
Whoever comes out on top should be extend an olive branch to whoever comes out in second place and invite that person onto the ticket as VP. One thing I can tell you, with a ticket like that, the Democrats WILL win for sure!
I used to buy television time in over 200 markets. Many of the cities mentioned have very inexpensive ads vs a Dallas, Minneapolis or Houston. $850,000 in Mankato probably buys almost every spot on the air there. Pity the poor regular advertisers.
Why do people keep saying that one shouldn't be able to buy the Presidency? What Bloomberg is doing with spending on his media blitz is just a difference in degree, not in kind.
Generally, politicians spend money to increase voter recognition. Some spend more, others less.
Above all, we must not forget that 2020 is not election business as usual.
1
I find it odd that the "presidency is not for sale". At one time that might have been true, but know it appears one needs multi millions just to be part of the process and many millions more to continue. Perhaps,one who does not require Super Pacs etc. may be a great choice because they are not beholden to any special interests and therefor what they say is what they can do without outside interference. .
3
Whenever I see Bloomberg's constant ads on television, I turn the channel. I do not want someone who forgoes the early primaries and instead feels that he can outspend everyone else in obtaining the nomination. I remember when he bought off the New York City Council, especially Council President Christine Quinn, and others in New York so that they would drop the two term limit for mayor and allow him to run for a third term
1
A lot of ads in Republican-leaning districts? A strategy based on winning in November without worrying about the nomination? Fascinating!
1
"The best case for Bloomberg is that we’ve already elected a reality TV star to the White House. We need somebody who can actually run things. We need somebody who can actually lead a government, staff an administration with talented professionals and do the mundane but essential tasks of pushing legislation and executing laws. We need somebody who will turn down the ideological temperature, so we don’t rip ourselves apart as a nation. We have enough politicians who cater to people who treat politics as the place they go to get self-indulgent moral affirmation baths. We need someone who can improve the lives of actual Americans. Bloomberg was one of the most successful mayors of this century. He was a Republican who left office with two-thirds of New Yorkers saying he made their city a better place." - David Brooks, NYTimes, 27Feb2020)
22
Whatever slight chance the Dems have in November, its going to be because of Bloomberg. A very substantial number of Democratic House members simply can't support Bernie in their Districts if he is the standard bearer for the Dem Party, and they have said so. If Bernie gets the Dem nomination, it would be a total disaster for the Party, the USA and the world.
19
I think Bloomberg has actually done a lot more to help the environment than Bernie ever has. So there's that.
21
So be it. In last night’s town hall hall meeting in Charleston Bloomberg looked thoughtful composed and yes Presidential. Well prepared and articulate. It is up to Bloomberg to spend as much as he wants of HIS money to become the Democratic nominee. And thereafter to take out Trump.It is time to make America sane again.
22
I agree that Micheal Bloomberg is the only candidate capable of beating Trump. He also possesses something that the others sorely lack. He has the respect of Donald Trump. Mr Trump is impressed by money and power. Micheal can buy and sell the Donald many times over. That’s an intimidation factor that will throw the Donald into a tizzy. Also, I’m confident in a debate between the two, Micheal would eat him up with sheer intellect.
23
@Judy ... Trump calls him Mini Mike. Thus, he doesn't respect him.
@Judy
You must have been watching different debates than everyone else. Bloomberg did poorly in both debates he's been in.
1
Maybe Bloomberg does well because Bernie and Warren are too far left, Mayor Pete is super smart, but too inexperienced, Biden is super, but not mentality quick (anymore? I don't know), Steyer just needs to go away. Just maybe some are relieved that Bloomberg got into the race since before him, it looked like a socialist could (and maybe will) win the Democratic nomination and that person will deliver 4 more years of Trump. So, it's not just about the money, it is about the policies, experience and brain power. Bloomberg has pragmatic policies focusing on the right issues, brain power and money. I don't care if he has money. Any comparison to Trump is false equivalency.
14
$ is not the only reason he may place well.
People can see he’s the real deal, and the only one to beat Trump.
15
Bloomberg is extremely intelligent and this calculated effort shows just how good he is at playing multi-dimensional chess.
You think he did poorly in the debates? Ask yourself what he had to gain from being drawn into petty arguments with Warren. He took his shots and will probably continue to do so and just let her (and Bernie) punch themselves out.
When he wins the nomination, he'll go at Trump really hard.
Trust me. If you want Trump gone, Mike is your guy.
20
Neither Bloomberg nor Steyer can buy the nomination though both, particularly Bloomberg, can buy a seat at the table in July. Bloomberg believes the party will turn to him because he is thought to be a moderate and has tons of money. Both Bloomberg and Steyer believe Sanders will have no more than a third of the delegates. He will probably have more but not a lot more.
Despite his many good qualities Sanders cannot win in November. His belief that there is an army of voters out there who will respond to his message is a chimera. He offers, or appears to offer, everything for everybody and only the rich will pay for it. Not enough voters will buy that. Every union member and all those many who work for companies who offer good health insurance will not vote for him in numbers. He cannot win without them.
At the convention on the second ballot or thereafter the Democratic Party will need to buy into a candidate that a large majority can support. Only such a candidate can win in November. Whom will that be? I do not know. I doubt if anyone else knows either at this point in time. It may not be any current candidate and perhaps it should not be, but instead, be a person without the baggage of the campaign trail. There are a number of good people like that out there.
4
The presidency should not be for sale. Bloomberg thinks his money and arrogance can buy him the presidency. For the sake of our democracy he needs to be proven wrong.
60
@Mike F. No, it can buy him ads. Whether the public decides his message is valid up to them
44
@Mike F.
Political Ad Spending Will Approach $10 Billion in 2020. Until there is true campaign finance reform you might set aside the idealistic view and be pragmatic on what it will take to beat Trump. BTW, the midterm elections turned the house Democratic in large part because of Bloomberg's surgical advertising dollars.
29
@Mike F. More Bernie Bros naïveté. Since Citizens United at least, The presidency, the House and the Senate are for sale, or at least (as others here have pointed out) exposed to whatever advantage you can acquire by burning mountains of cash. You can whine about it, or you can vote for someone with the resources and the broad-based electoral appeal to actually win and can actually implement a progressive political agenda, on climate, on guns, on reproductive rights, on immigration, and yes, on campaign finance reform. We're at war in defense of American democracy, and we won't win it by pretending that American democracy is alive and well.
5
And yet once he was seen live in a debate, his polls went down.
He won't win.
Money doesn't matter.
The message and messenger does.
Mike stammers, has no charm, questionable issues, and bad message ("Mike Can Get It Done" What exactly is "it"?)
A billion dollars won't change that.
63
@profwilliams I hope you're right. I agree that when people see the man rather than just the ad campaign, they mostly find him unappealing.
But more people will see the ads than the man: 15 million saw the last debate vs how many more millions who have seen and been impressed by Bloomberg's ads?
9
"Mike stammers, has no charm, questionable issues, and bad message ("Mike Can Get It Done" What exactly is "it"?)"
Apparently the same message covfefeans get from the loser: he gets "things" done.[1]
Never mind that they're the wrong Things, or the right Things for the wrong reasons, or that they're able to do Things because they have enough money to flout the law without a wristslap, much less a consequence.
Dosomethingism shows power, however wrongly, and attracts a certain voter.
[1] I'm far too close to someone who thinks that not only does the loser get Things done, but he's done everything he's said he'd do. Some people are beyond saving, some are not worth saving, and some are just the perfect mix of both.
3
@SR of course it matters. He is blocking the path for not-so-well funded moderates. And is therefore doing Trump’s bidding.
Bloomberg has flaws, no doubt about that. But I like him because he is doing what no other Democrat campaigning to be nominee is doing: training their entire verbal and financial arsenal to the only target that matters: Trump. Bloomberg is hammering Trump on everything from his abandonment of Obamacare to his unpreparedness on the corona virus. And God knows there's so much else Bloomberg can train his attacks on: Trump's abysmal foreign policy record, his attacks on the judiciary, his separation of migrant children from their parents, his weaponization of the Justice Dep't, Trump's personal ties to Russia... The list is indeed a long one. Bloomberg has the money muscle to keep on reminding Americans just how unfit Trump is to hold high office. This must be what the Democratic Party should be doing, and Bloomberg alone is doing it.
132
@Rick Morris
I agree with your reasoning, Rick. But I have trouble understanding Mike's approach in light of 3 other moderates, 4 including Steyer. Isn't every vote Mike gets a gift of delegates to Sanders ?
@Rick Morris
The problem is that Bloomberg's attacks don't seem to be doing much good. And attacking Trump isn't that likely to get him the nomination because **all** the other candidates are also doing that. Right now Bloomberg is taking votes away from Biden and making it less likely that either will get the nomination.
Remember, he can only run against Trump once he has the nomination. So far he hasn't really given people a reason to vote *for* him.
@Rick Morris what he is training his billions on are the moderates like Joe Biden, who would be doing much better were Bloomberg not in the race throwing money around like confetti. Bloomberg is only making it easier for Sen. Sanders to win the nomination with the minority of supercharged Democratic voters. As for his verbal and financial assault against Trump, those are problematic because it not only values money over everything else, Bloomberg's tactics necessitate getting down in the muck and wire with Trump. And that's a losing battle because we know Trump is an expert at that. How can Bloomberg go back to being a"normal" president after getting low down and dirty with someone who has no qualms about going after people's families and scapegoating minority voters?" Answer: he won't. Do Democrats really want to be like the Trump party?
3
Sure, money helps, but it's not the only animating factor in Bloomberg's campaign. He presents a real alternative for those who think Sanders and Warren are too far left, for older Americans concerned about healthcare and their retirement nest eggs, and for those who want less government in their lives. Money gives Bloomberg advantage over other centrists like Buttigieg and Klobuchar, but it goes beyond his billions.
110
@Ralph Pena
Sanders and Warren are NOT "far left." They represent a centre-left ideology called "social democracy," which is extremely common in Canada and Europe. They all have a social democracy party of some description that advocates for much the same things that Sanders and Warren advocate for. The irony is that their policy proposals would be considered very bland and mainstream in those countries, but the Overton window is slanted so far to the right that even the most tame suggestions for reform are dismissed out of hand by the Republicans and even most Democrats (who are a far-right reactionary group and right-wing conservative/neoliberal group respectively). People in Canada and Europe are rightfully mocking us when we say that Bernie is "far left" because they can see it's blatantly not true. That sort of thing combined with the brazen apathy of the Democrats towards the desires of their voters makes me ashamed to be a citizen in this God-forsaken country.
2
@Ralph Pena
If Michael Bloomberg really wants to beat Donald Trump and not just feed his own ego, he should drop out of the race tomorrow and put his money behind Joe Biden, who is the candidate who can build the broadest coalition. If Bloomberg crowds out Biden, he will only manage to nominate Bernie and then re-elect Trump. Bernie Sanders' rise was simultaneous with Bloomberg's entry into the race, and this was no coincidence... we need Bloomberg on our team, but not as a candidate.
Remember, the ultimate goal is to defeat Trump and defeating an “unprecedented” president requires unprecedented effort and resources. This is why I’m hoping that Bloomberg will become the candidate, because he’s the only one who has what we need to defeat Trump.
105
It's pretty sad that we have candidates trying to buy the election. That being said, this is our reality given the current campaign finance laws. If any of the candidates besides Bloomberg still manages to win, I hope they accept Bloomberg's help to beat Trump (Buttigieg and others have mentioned they would). It sounds like Bernie wants to reject this assistance and think this is a terrible decision because we need to do everything we can to win. It would also force regular Americans to donate larger sums to try to win since Trump has so much money from big donors already.
6
Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People tells us that we should start with the end in mind. That end is to replace Trump. Mike Bloomberg is the best candidate to achieve the end in mind.
34
@Richard Weber Of all the Dems in the field only Bernie Sanders is polling ahead of Trump in both WI and PA, the two most crucial swing states of this election, so I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion.
1
@Rick Because Sanders' supporters show up en masse in those states and his tally does not include Republicans and Independents.
4
@Olive
Yes. Unhappy w/djt Republicans will cross over and join us in voting blue. Bloomberg attracts right, left and middle voters. He's quiet, presidential and pragmatic in TV ads and getting the message delivered. Outing Trump is Bloomberg's primary goal; and what voters want.
Bloomberg can lead, he can beat trump and he's running not for self-aggrandizement but because he cares deeply about what is best for this country. He has my vote.
61
Until there is true campaign finance reform, get used to these ever increasing level of spending. With the Trump camp spending over a billion for reelection, who except Bloomberg has the wherewithal to defeat him?
25
@Stephen
Anyone who gets the nomination will.
If saturation advertising guarantees success, that says more about the registered Democrat electorate than it does about Mr. Bloomberg's wealth.
9
This emphasis on Super Tuesday and beyond goes to show that if one has the money, the nomination is up for purchase. Everything else is performance art for the plebeians.
2
@Red Tree Hill Not necessarily. Hillary was far better funded than Trump--his campaign had nearly half the money Hillary had.
How cynical does one have to be to jump on the Bloomberg bandwagon?
Bloomberg continually touts his successes in New York City, so it's fair to ask just how much New Yorkers like him.
Well, on his third run for mayor he spent $102 million while his opponent, Bill Thompson, spent around $7 million. And Bloomberg won by 50,000 votes. Not great, considering that no one knew who Bill Thompson was while Bloomberg just served two terms.
The fact that Bloomberg outspent his rival 14 to 1 and barely squeaked out a 3% margin of victory tells you what New Yorkers think of the man. As a New Yorker myself, I can tell you there is a LOT not to be liked.
So now Bloomberg is hoping to buy the White House. Only problem is, Bernie is leading in virtually all the polls for Super Tuesday. And to make matters worse, Bloomberg is bland and boring and can't debate his way out of a wet paper bag. Unfortunately, debating wasn't an integral aspect of running for mayor in NYC or Bill Thompson would have won.
In the last two debates Bloomberg came off as stodgy, wonky, tone-deaf, imperious, and bureaucratic, which was exactly what we got when he was mayor. You'd have to be all those things to allow the police department to stop millions of blacks and Latinos and then pretend you didn't figure out it was wrong until a few days before you kick off your presidential campaign.
It's sickening to think of the billion-plus dollars Bloomberg with throw down the drain in his quixotic run for president.
8
"If Mike Bloomberg does well on Super Tuesday it's because" people that have reads his proposals, and actually heard him speak at a town hall or other venue than the "Democratic food fight debates" have listened and woken up! Bloomberg can handle Donald J. Trump any day - and he can win across the states that have a strangle hold on the Electoral College.
19
Bloomberg started without a silver spoon leg up and had mayoral approval from Times and Trump.He has brains(BSEE,MBA) well respected in business world,didn’t bankrupt lenders / partners,high level of philanthropy,and looks to me like could easily handle the personal attacks,sure to come from Repugs.He is not a dyed in the wool redistributionist.He looks to me like the best shot the dims got.Stop and frisk was a technique to concentrate scarce enforcement resources in victim rich enclaves where emergency protection called for interdiction to prevent death or maiming deemed more imperative than inconvenience.
24
This is insulting to the American voter. Bloomberg has an well known record and huge name recognition long before this.
To assume Bloomberg is voted for because he ran tv ads is a real disrespect to the American voter.
Save this sort of criticism for the moronic Trump voter.
29
@Sherwin Kahn
"To assume Bloomberg is voted for because he ran tv ads is a real disrespect to the American voter."
This may be true in Texas, but it certainly is not in California.
Using TV adds rather than internet marketing is like fighting an modern tank with a trebuchet. For someone who ran a tech company to think that TV is the way to win hearts and minds in the modern era is surprising.
1
@Ben P He's trying to reach elderly voters--most of whom AREN'T tech savvy. They tend to be moderate Republicans and THEY VOTE.
5
@Ben P Bloomberg is spending plenty on what you call internet marketing. This article just happens to be about television advertising.
If Bloomberg and Steyer were really determined to get Trump out of the White House, they should be using their enormous wealth to educate the public about the truth about Trump.
A well crafted media blitz designed to look like a Trump biography would catch the public's attention, draw them in, and then hit them with the reality of Trump's life of lies and deceit. Let the American people know that Trump does not care for his base, that they only serve to stoke his enormous and fragile ego. That the only thing that is important to Trump is the Trump brand and money.
Bloomberg may be able to pull off a victory and get the nomination, but it looks highly unlikely. Let him focus on Trump and the damage he is doing, rather than the Quixotic quest of charging the windmill of the White House and the presidency.
He could also throw a few bucks into the mix to derail the Sanders train before it gets tot he station.
9
@Larry
95% of Mike's ads denounce and expose Trump.
The other 5% do the same for Sanders.
Soon the exposes of Bernie will dramatically rise.
Tune into a computer, TV, newspaper near you over the next few weeks.
Mike will get it done.
13
I'm predicting that Bloomberg's astroturfing campaign will be a huge bust.
4
@Ridley Bojangles He sounded smart and even-tempered last night on CNN when he had a chance to speak more than 30 seconds.
The article says that when the campaign began, Steyer had "slightly less" name recognition than Bloomberg. Slightly less? Had anyone even heard of Steyer before this?
19
Stop and frisk, bulldozed Zucotti Park to crush Occupy Wall Street, 64 NDAs, fought Central Park 5 being released and being compensated for 6+ years, refers to Goldman Sachs as his Peeps, blames the financial meltdown of 2008 on redlining being lifted which is both wrong and ahistorical, supported the Iraq War, campaigned for George Bush, funds Lindsay Graham, wouldn't endorse Obama, was for Suleimani's assassination, said Israel does not have to be proportionate in response and it is okay to target Palestinian children in school, said Manhattan was a luxury good to support development and stave off housing for the homeless, tried to crush the teacher's union, wants taxes to be regressive on the poor, has said that he needs to defend wall street because banks needs champions...I could go on, but you get the point. Say no to this oligarch buying the election.
3
@Cee and then there’s trump...
6
@Cee And STILL better than trump.
10
@Cee
Bribed and supported republicans legislatures. Helped create this crises and supports the infrastructure that causes the problems. An authoritarian republican taking over the Democratic Party?
Go Mike Go! Tell the public how Trump gutted our pandemic teams at our agencies to smite Obama. He winds up shooting himself and killing a lot of innocent people.
24
Wak up complainers.
Bloomberg, very strategically, has a long track record of spending his money for human rights causes... and now he's fighting vigorously against Trump, with the promise he'll support the winning Democrat if it isn't him. So why is everyone complaining? We should be thanking him! Mike Bloomberg puts his money where his mouth is.
99
@FB At what point does philanthropic spending cross into influence peddling? He donated to non-profits in New York City and they in turn lobbied the the City Council to extend his term limit. "Good" causes may benefit, but he picks and chooses which causes are worthy, and he is the ultimate beneficiary.
He's an authoritarian, and people like him shouldn't exist.
5
@FB He is putting all other moderates out of business by outspending then by a factor 100. And is therefore doing Trump’s business.
Mike Bloomberg is NOT Mr. Warm and Fuzzy. Mike Bloomberg might not be the most "WOKE" man on the planet. But Mike Bloomberg is incredibly competent and runs world class organizations from business to philanthropic organizations to political campaigns. He's generally calm, cool, and collected. And when a situation like a coronavirus or 9-11 hits, he's the guy I want to be in charge.
Instead of demonizing him for past mistakes, can we PLEASE use this as a teachable moment and move forward? Yes, we white people have been racially insensitive because frankly until we saw the body & dash cam video, we had no idea how really bad the situation was. And yes, there's been a sexist bro culture out there (although I'd argue that Bernie Sanders' and Donald Trumps' supporters are way worse than anything that Mike Bloomberg might have done).
That said, I resent the fact that we are demonizing billionaires or any class of people. We need to sit down like adults, talk through problems, and come together for mutually beneficial solutions.
When others are sitting on their hands and being self-indulgent, at least Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer get it and are doing something positive to make the situation better. They are willing to attack their peers ... that takes a lot of courage. I, for one, appreciate what they are trying to do. Having been in politics for 40 years, this is an incredible incredibly tough task they have taken on. We should be a hell of a lot more appreciative.
94
@SanDiego
You think a party-switching billionaire with no experience in federal office or as a governor is not pathologically self-indulgent?
6
@SanDiego
Stop and frisk is not "racially insensitive." It was 12 years of purposeful, state-sponsored civil rights violations against an entire generation of young black men in NYC. And women having to leave their jobs because of the working environment isn't just a little "bro-culture" issue -- it is institutionalized sexism.
This kind of dismissive civility politics w/ finger wagging is extraordinarily tone deaf. This isn't about warm and fuzzy, its about basic human dignity and freedoms -- which women, black people, and other minorities have been organizing, marching and fighting for literally centuries. But yeah we should all stop and thank Bloomberg for writing some checks and buying some ads.
3
@Marta
Centre-right neoliberal Democrats are perfectly fine with overlooking all the racist abuse from his past even though he's done basically nothing to make up for it except for rattling off a halfhearted apology when it was convenient to do so. There are still tons of sentences being served that resulted from unfair stop-and-frisk sentences, which is to say nothing of the myriad other effects that terrorizing young black and Latino men had on their lives. I despise the speed with which comments on these articles resort to insisting we should all just "forgive and forget" with Bloomberg. It's easy to say that when it wasn't YOUR family members getting hassled and arrested by the police, or spied on simply for being the wrong religion. Wealthy neoliberal Democrats exist in a privileged world where they can freely ignore because issues like police brutality and healthcare insurance costs don't directly affect their lives. I guess we're supposed to believe he's actually a good guy deep down because he donates chump change to charities to get tax write-offs? And we're also supposed to believe that he's somehow more egalitarian and progressive than Bernie even though he has a long track record of sexist remarks and a long list of sexual misconduct allegations?
1
$400,000,000 is less than a quarter of what he'd have to pay if Warren's wealth 2% wealth tax got established. It's a real bargain.
8
@michaeltide Do you really think Bloomberg would go through all the trials involved in running a presidential campaign just to avoid paying a tax he obviously could easily and quite willingly afford? Was that why he spent so much supporting democrats for the house in 2018?
25
If Bloomberg wins it won't only be money.It will also be because he was a great Mayor,has good ideas,has worked on gun control and climate change ,and because none of the other moderates have taken off against Sanders.Sanders is almost as dangerous as Trump,just in a different way.Plus Sanders is the Dem most likely to lose to Trump which is why the Russians were helping him.
18
@Keith I guess that's a serious question. I do think Bloomberg, for all his good works, has gone through the trials involved with building and protecting his great wealth. Perhaps its not that simple an equation, but I do think that he envisions a country where his wealth continues to equal political power, and he believes, along with others of his economic status that "l'economy c'est moi." I think that notwithstanding a wealth tax, which may or may not be possible, that a Warren presidency is the worst fear for those in the "financial industry."
2
self-titled environmentalist Mike....how many trees have you cut down to fill the nation's mailboxes with cardboard?
5
@greg anton Are you aware that he pledged $15,000,000 to the UN Climate Accord? That he represented the United States at the Paris Climate Accord? Did anyone happen to note any of the other candidates for president or the actual President there? No other candidate has done more to address our impending Climate crisis. I’ll take his mail, which is often addressing Climate Change, over self-aggrandizing any day.
25
I don't understand some of Bloomberg's blurbs.
For instance, "Trump likes burnt steaks", (?)
What is interesting, is Bloomberg really is using his own money, as opposed to the phony in the White House.
Anyway, I'll vote for any democratic nominee.
18
This is repulsive. Without his billions, Mike would be another Bill Deblasio only far more conservative. He's arrogant, out of touch, racist, sexist, etc. - voters won't be bought off by the onslaught of slick advertising.
6
@Michelle E quoting David Brooks in today's nyt with MUCH factual support: Bloomberg was one of the most successful mayors of this century. He was a Republican who left office with two-thirds of New Yorkers saying he made their city a better place. Can you refute that with details?
45
@Michelle E so, let’s look at Detroit and it’s economy and then NY’S during Bloomberg’s tenure.
6
@Jim Surkamp
If Bloomberg was so successful, how come he was replaced by his antithesis Bill de Blasio, who sought to reverse many of his policies? I'm no fan of de Blasio but clearly Bloomberg left a bad taste in many people's mouths. David Brooks lives in an ideological bubble, even when he's traveling around the country "listening". His paean to Bloomberg turned my stomach, especially the part about rezoning and its marvelous effect. I live near the East River and it is now an unbroken wall of luxury condos extending miles, from Brooklyn Bridge to Queens, affordable by only a handful. That's Bloomberg's legacy.
Hey, if this plague starts to unravel America, we just might need a really rich guy to save us. I'm all for that, because right now, I could care less about this election.
4
Every day another glossy Bloomberg ad lands in my mailbox. Often two in one day. In Vermont, no less! For the love of God, please leave me alone.
8
Hmm... worry less about buying the election and focus on what the man has accomplished over his lifetime/career. Then compare to others, particularly our “esteemed “ president.
74
@Lenalex
Bloomberg has nothing to speak of except terrorizing non-white Americans and getting tax write-offs by donating tiny amounts of money (proportionately speaking) to charities. He's a corrupt right-wing billionaire and he's going to lose if he's nominated because voters will choose the current corrupt right-wing billionaire (who they're already familiar with).
1
I'm not a Democrat, but if I was I'd for for Bloomberg. At least HE has a proven and very successful track record.
Compare that to Sanders whose only claim to fame is stabbing his finger in your face. All talk and no action including his record in the Senate which is essentially zero.
65
@JSS He has a track record because he’s backed by the corporations. Meanwhile Sanders constantly fights an uphill battle to get us stuff that has been in other developed countries for decades.
6
@JSS "I'm not a Democrat, but if I was I'd for for Bloomberg. "
Because Bloomberg was a Republican?
5
@JSS
You can vote for him when he is our nominee.
His strategy is pure brilliance.
Come back in July and you will realize how he masterfully wins an election like a chess grandmaster.
The man is an engineer and problem solver. He never invests time or money unless he knows that that odds favor his success.
Keep in mind, you don't have to win a state to get delegates. He will get delegates by winning 15% or more in each state.
No one will have a majority in July on the first ballot.
The convention will choose its candidate on the second ballot.
Mike will win.
He always does.
He will beat Trump and give us our country back.
16
Who watches ads? Don't people usually tape programs they want to watch and zip through the ads?
3
@Occupy Government Not the elderly, who, as REAL conservatives, are getting disillusioned by Trump. AND THEY VOTE.
2
I think this is misleading. Super Pacs run ads and are missing from this analysis. Mayor Pete also seems to be blanketing the airwaves but he is funded by Super Pacs and other interest groups.
11
The only reason Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer are in this race is because of money and hubris—-a dangerous combination that represents all that is wrong with politics. As a so-called moderate Democrat, I am dismayed that Democrats may face a choice between Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg, two poorly vetted candidates. Bloomberg claims he got in the race because he believes all the other moderate candidates are incapable of defeating Sanders. And yet, by drowning us in relentless ads, he is assisting Sanders’ rise. So i don’t believe him. More likely, both he and Steyer saw an opportunity to slip into the presidency by taking advantage of Democratic voters’ desperation to get rid of Donald Trump. Similar to what happened with Donald Trump accomplished in 2016, we have Bernie Sanders going after a hostile takeover of the Democratic Party with a minority of super dedicated supporters. We now have people like Bloomberg and Steyer attempting the same with their billions. The GOP voter base has indicated they don’t care about this with Mr. Trump. But Democrats should.
2
@D. Elisabeth Glassco So agree with all of this. He's another narcissistic billionaire. It's funny how people on our "side" are saying what Republicans said about Trump. He's rich, he's successful, he can do it. He has no respect for democracy, to start, and no respect for the will of the voters. If he did, he would actually run for the office like everybody else.
2
@D. Elisabeth Glassco,
Bloomberg got elected three times and served 12 years in what may be the second-highest profile elected office in the nation. He is also a highly successful businessperson. In both role he has had missteps, but his overall record is solid. So I disagree with your analysis.
38
@Michie,
You wrote, "...another narcissistic billionaire..."
I disagree. My definition of a millionaire is someone who can write a personal check for a million dollars and still be a millionaire. Same for billionaires.
By that standard, which I hold to be reasonable and accurate, Bloomberg is the ONLY billionaire in the presidential race. Failure to comprehend this falls into the same ignorance trap as "the 1%" sloganeering. It's about failing to comprehend scale.
6
It is stunning that so many readers consider Blumberg's efforts to be extraordinary. They are not...remember superPACs and their unlimited money to buy the presidency? Goodness what short memories we have.
8
Even if you don't like Bloomberg, you'd have to appreciate the fact that he's running anti-Trump ads. If you don't like candidates 'buying' the election then you should change the process and let the party bosses pick candidates instead, like they did in the old days. This whole primary process is a waste of time and money to begin with.
8
No one would take Bloomberg or Steyer seriously if it were not for their campaign spending out of their personal wealth. These campaigns are an almost Trumpian level of threat to our democracy.
There are plenty of wildly rich people who might get bored and do the same. The result would be the distortion and delegitimization our elections. If these billionaures really had the psychology to act for the good of the country in the long term, they would recognize this and do so by not running.
3
@Alan and... if they really had the psychology to act for the good of the country, they would likely not be billionaires. Unless they're Bill Gates, who invented something. And he's not running for office. He's working to cure and reduce the incidence of communicable disease.
@Michie Not that Bloomberg needs a defense, but he founded a business based on a need in the financial industry. It made him incredibly wealthy. He did not rape the landscape, exploit child labor or undocumented immigrants or any other predatory business practices. He has given back to multiple communities and socially progressive causes. He has run a city that has at times been characterized as ungovernable such that he earned three terms as mayor. Sounds like he has the credentials to me
14
Further numbing of the American voter. Either that, or a vigorous stimulation that he or she badly needs.
Money is essential in U.S. electoral politics because even in Congress, the most representative body of government, Congressional districts are so large that individual voters have almost no chance of interacting with their representatives. The voter’s understanding of a candidate is inevitably a mediated one.
The Senate is even worse. It doesn’t even pretend to be accountable, and as a result, one could hardly imagine a more frivolous and irresponsible legislative body.
If the money now spent on advertising was spent on enlarging the mechanisms of representation (a larger and more powerful Congress, among other things), then the United States would be better governed. However, at some deep level, U.S. citizens don’t want this, and prefer instead to have the media circus. It brings jobs, entertainment, and (perhaps) a pleasing sense of helplessness, like the numbing of an opioid.
The Bloomberg Election might change all that. If Mike’s money holds out, it will be like the electric shock that jolted Frankenstein’s monster into life (different metaphors will aired in different markets, naturally). At this point it’s hard to see how more advertising could do any more harm.
4
Billionaires are people and just as some people are good people and some are bad, there are good billionaires and bad billionaires.
Some of the comments arise from prejudice against people who are billionaires without making the distinction between good and bad ones. Having or not having wealth should not be the only criterion. How they earned their wealth and what they have done with it is important and whether they earned it by work and industry or by inheritance.
I hope that voters will study the record of the work for humanity the candidate has accomplished before casting their ballots.
53
@ReaderJP I have recorded the fact that Bloomberg implimented a racist policy while Mayor of NYC (stop and frisk), and has made transphobic comments (referring to a trans person as "some guy wearing a dress").
It's going to take more than a proverbial "oops, I'm sorry" for me to believe he isn't a transphobic racist.
3
@ReaderJP Kalief Browder, enough said!
1
@Sarah all-nighter everything racist only trivializes the word.
2
The thing that so deeply troubles me is how Bloomberg has essentially bought this vast arsenal of endorsements from elected officials in the Democratic Party by spreading his largesse around. He can make the claim that, by self-financing and being as rich as Croesus, he himself is incorruptible. But boy, he sure has figured out how to corrupt everybody else.
When I combine his naked attempts to buy the election with this recent ex-Republican's reversing and pretend-apologizing for a number of his positions so that he can fit himself into the Democratic mainstream, my reaction to the Bloomberg candidacy can be summed up in two words: "Kill it."
43
@Mitch Gitman Did it ever occur to you that the elected officials endorsing Mike do so because they understand how difficult a job it is to be mayor of a modern city? And the most difficult job would be to be mayor of New York City after 911? Maybe they support Mike because they understand (as Mayor Pete does) that it takes administrative skill to run a government? And maybe they appreciate the fact that he's been willing to stop out of the business world into government?
19
@SanDiego I don't disagree with you that Bloomberg has some impressive credentials to run on, but apparently Bloomberg himself didn't believe he could run an honest, legitimate campaign based on his record. Likewise, I'm sure there's a case to be made by other mayors that Bloomberg's record as NYC mayor warrants their endorsement, but then again, why leave the impression that that endorsement has been tainted by Bloomberg money?
Either you're a real politician or you're a mega-donor, but when you try to mix the two, it's not exactly kosher.
4
Sanders wish list is to expensive and to progressive, he will loose. The election is going to be a dog fight. Bring a dog fighter,
Bloomberg
39
This onslaught should really be an insult to people's intelligence, but Bloomberg's cynical calculation is that most people are easily hypnotized sheep. This says more about what kind of president he'd be than a ten foot stack of policy papers.
60
@stan continople given that a large portion of trumps base actually appeared to believe, among other things, that Mexico would pay for a border wall and that a significant portion of them actually believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, that Mexico has paid for it, I would say that critical thinking it's not a particularly prominent trade among much of the electorate. I don't see why we should blame someone else for catering to that fact.
30
@stan continople Bernie bros?
5
I also get full color ads from Bloomberg in the mail every other day.
9
@Blonde Guy Me, too. I want to send them back.
1
My dad said he wants Bloomberg to either run away with the nomination or spectacularly rank. Anything to get his over-saturating ads off the TV.
1
I'd imagine this drives up the cost of advertising for other candidates as well substantially - ad execs at tv stations must be telling everyone to vote for bloomberg
7
The two Texas polls from yesterday show Bloomberg is accomplishing one thing: Ensuring a sold win for Sanders. Bloomberg is only taking votes from Biden and the slew of also-rans.
The irony of a billionaire spending unprecedented sums to help prop up a socialist for President is pretty great, and revels how smart Bloomberg and the people who surround him really are.
17
@Richard Cardenas Indeed, Bloomberg has to be draining votes from everyone except Sanders. Also, this is 2020, not 1985 - is TV in fact the voter reach/voter deciding medium is was back then? Seems like a massive throw of the dice on one strategy and an older tool.
1
@Richard Cardenas
Don't worry.
There is a strategy that will become more obvious within the next 2-3 months.
Get ready for a massive, unrelenting, over the top amount of ads on all media that will expose Bernie as the high risk candidate he is.
The effect will be to diminish his delegate count and deny him a majority on the first ballot.
The DNC rules, which Bernie signed and helped draft, demand a majority on the first ballot, not a plurality. If no one gets a majority we go to a second ballot and the superdelegates get to vote.
Bernie would have to get a percentage of delegates on the first ballot that are almost impossible for him to achieve if other candidates are on the ballot.
His supporters will yell and threaten to leave, not vote, etc. but he will finally be finished with the Dems ( nice, since he was never a team player and refused to join our party).
5
I wish he would stop sending me mail, too. I've already voted in my state's primary and would never vote for him in the general election so please, just stop.
17
Democrats will not let a Republican buy our party’s nomination!
20
@Rihard
Do not forget that Sanders is NOT a democrat
26
@M yeah, kinda like keep the govt out of my medicare
2
@Rihard: No, you want open borders, free college, free health care for all, letting all of those who have been deported return as well as who ever wants to come here and take advantage of these benefits to come on over. THAT (Bernie or Warren) is what will destroy the economy for all of us and without borders we have no country. This agenda will guarantee a Trump re-election.