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| Home / College Guide / How Long Before The Bloom(berg) Is Off The Rose? |
| Posted on Monday, November 11 @ 00:00:16 PST |
I want to explore the national prospects of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, apparently the latest entry to the Democratic presidential race (though his filing for Alabama’s March primary might prove to be an elaborate trial balloon that never gained altitude), but first I must confess to a bias. In 2009, Bloomberg sought a third mayoral term. It wasn’t an easy fit, as a year previously he’d pressed New York’s City Council to alter the city’s voter-approved term-limits law , thus allowing Bloomberg the chance to seek another four years in office.
How’d that affect me?
Back in Northern California, I spent temperate fall afternoons and evenings walking my late, beloved dog while listening to New York Yankees radio broadcasts on my phone app – only to be bothered between innings by incessant Bloomberg campaign ads.
The advertising was relentless, as was Bloomberg’s spending in that contest (at $102 million of his personal fortune, it translated to $183 a vote – keeping in line with the $74 million Bloomberg spent in 2001 and $85 million in 2005).
The point is: after weeks of no escape from the ad onslaught, I was primed to fly to Gotham and vote for Bloomberg if it meant getting him off the air and letting me listen to baseball as it’s meant – an escape from politics.
New Yorkers maybe felt similarly beaten into submission, with that media war of attrition giving the mayor an unimpressive five-point win, far less than what polls had predicted .
Bloomberg’s not the only shameless spender trying to win the hearts of Democratic voters these days. As I write this column (I kid you not), billionaire Tom Steyer’s ads keep popping up on the History Channel – in just four months as a candidate, he’s spending on advertising at a monthly eight-figure pace .
So why is Bloomberg doing this – making a presidential splash after months of staying out of the water? I have three theories.
Why The Surprise? He’s Always Wanted To . During the 2008 election cycle, Bloomberg reportedly toyed with the idea of running for president as an independent. At one point, there was a movement to draft Bloomberg . The mayor himself seemed to enjoy the dance of veils (for example, this suggestive but non-committal New York Times op-ed ).
In 2012, history repeated itself – more talk of drafting Bloomberg, more speculation that he’d run. Ultimately, Bloomberg endorsed Barack Obama . . . five days before the November vote – and only after flirting with Mitt Romney’s campaign .
That takes us to 2016 and – surprise – Bloomberg again pondering a presidential run as an independent. Bloomberg chose not to run, he said, for fear that he’d further divide the Electoral College and leave it to Congress to settle the outcome. Translation: he’s more of a Democrat than a Republican.
What changed in 2019 – other than no Obama or Hillary in the way?
Maybe it’s age. Bloomberg turns 78 next February – the choice of Bloomberg, Bernie Sanders (age 78), Joe Biden (he turns 77 on Nov. 20) and Elizabeth Warren (she turned 70 in June) looking like antiquated Soviet apparatchiks standing atop Lenin’s Tomb. So it’s now or never for Bloomberg.
Or it could be something more visceral . . .
He Hates Trump . It’s clear that Trump will treat Bloomberg no different from past and present opponents (“Little Michael,†meet Little Marco†).
But Bloomberg’s thoughts on Trump?
It’s probably what The New York Times opined the other day: the choice between “a maker and a faker†(Maureen Dowd takes it a step further : “One is a real deal maker who cares about public policy and one is a fake deal maker who only cares about himselfâ€).
To the adage that all politics is local, maybe Bloomberg takes the Trump presidency personally, and as a local slight – in Trump, he see’s a fellow Manhattanite who’s less wealthy, less charitable and arguably less successful who somehow beat him to the White House.
Or, Bloomberg’s problem could be with someone else . . .
He Has Little Faith In Biden . I refer you to this Politico article , from back in February, that discusses a Bloomberg “Plan A†and “Plan B.†The former is an actual candidacy; the latter is a $500 million data-collection effort to assist an outgunned Democratic nominee in ending the Trump presidency.
If Bloomberg is in “Plan A†mode, does that mean he’s given up hope on a fellow moderate earning the Democratic nomination? If so, is that another nail in the Biden campaign’s coffin ?
But what of Bloomberg’s chances, if he follows through on last week’s announcement and becomes a full-fledged candidate?
Democratic primary voters will respond positively to Bloomberg’s record on gun control (a Bloomberg-sponsored gun-control group was active in Tuesday’s legislative races in Virginia).
And the party’s p.c. health police will lap up his mayoral ban on big soft drinks ( later struck down by a Manhattan judge ).
However, there’s also the matter of Bloomberg’s wealth, which has already made the former mayor a featured player in Elizabeth Warren’s emails and daily messaging . At some point in Democratic political circles, “billionaire†become a toxic word (you’ll note that Howard Schultz, the Starbucks gazillionaire who couldn’t get his presidential effort off the ground, has taken to referring himself as “a person of means†).
If New York toughness is to be part of the Bloomberg presidential brand, he won’t engage in such cutesy semantics. But how to explain, to woke progressives, why his accumulation of wealth is not a cause for shame, or retribution?
That’s right after Michael Bloomberg clarifies whether he’s serious about being an actual presidential candidate.
I invite you to follow me on Twitter : @hooverwhalen
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