Yes, Michael Bloomberg is the 9th richest man in the world and he’s trying to buy the Democratic nomination. In the tweet below, David Wright of CNN documents how so far Bloomberg has spent $417 million in advertising compared to around $40 million for Sanders and Buttigieg, $21 million for Warren, and $12 million for Joe Biden.
This is lopsided to say the least.
The Democrats I know who support Bloomberg do so because he punches Trump and wins. They have never seen anyone else do that. They are thrilled someone is finally able to get into the mud with Trump and win because they are frustrated. You can talk about Stop and Frisk and the 64 sexual harassment suits filed over the decades all you want and it won’t influence them. Not to say those issues do not matter just that it doesn’t seem to be having much affect. From what I’ve seen, this isn’t about policy it’s about nominating someone who can stand up to Trump and win. Also, if you go to his website you’ll find he has quickly turned into a Democrat supporting a lot of programs he wouldn’t have a few years ago such as a Medicare public option, a 401(K) public option with government matching, climate action, & on and on.
My guess is Bloomberg will benefit now that he is going after Sanders as well. The same dynamic is at play. Sanders may be the front runner due to a divided field, but there are a lot of Democrats who are afraid Sanders could burn the party to the ground. They have watched frustrated as the other candidates attack each other but treat Sanders with kid gloves afraid to alienate his supporters.
But what does cause people supporting or considering Bloomberg to rethink? It’s that a billionaire buying the nomination sets a terrible precedent. Will this cause more billionaires to run as their ego leads them to believe they are the answer?? Will future primaries be full of billionaires self funding that ordinary candidates such as Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, etc. just can’t compete? Look at the chart — Bloomberg is able to outspend them from 10 to 1 to 40 to 1.
Democrats will nominate a former Republican who happens to be a billionaire but they will not support billionaires taking over our party and our democracy. The key is to connect that.
When I present that as the issue I’ve caused people to rethink his candidacy. And I think that’s a real issue. I don’t want billionaires running for office thinking they are the answer making it so a lot of our heroes can’t compete.
Full disclosure: I voted for Joe Biden, but I am fine with Warren, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar. I don’t want Sanders to win for reasons I've explained. I also think some of our best candidates have dropped out such as Kamala Harris and Cory Booker which is disappointing. I’m very strongly #VoteBlueNoMatterWho.