WaPo: Hey, Michael Bloomberg, no one wants you to run for president

[crazytown]

Hey, Michael Bloomberg, no one wants you to run for president

On Thursday, reporters learned that former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is preparing to enter the Democratic primary. Scores of Democratic donors rejoiced at the news, and tens of families in the Hamptons erupted in cheers. In this era of increasing racial diversity, gender equality and rising populist anger, the Democratic primary clearly needed a septuagenarian white male billionaire to enter the race. Thank God Bloomberg is here to save the day!

Snark aside, Bloomberg 2020 is a bad idea. Polls suggest that Democrats neither want nor need a Bloomberg candidacy, and his strategy seems seriously flawed. Democratic donors have been sounding the alarm about their front-runners, but even if they’re right, Democrats already have better options than Bloomberg in the race.

Real-life, non-million-dollar-donor Democrats are happy with the candidates they already have. In July, Pew Research Center found that 65 percent of Democrats had a “good” or “excellent” impression of the candidates running for the Democratic nomination, 25 percent said their sense was that the field was fair, and only 5 percent had a “poor” impression.

By historical standards, those are excellent numbers. In 2015, only 51 percent had an unambiguously positive impression of the field, and in 2003 just 44 percent did. Democrats are about as happy with the field as they were in 2007, when Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards were leading the Democratic primary and the party was on its way to a landslide victory. According to a Economist/YouGov poll, only 22 percent of registered Democrats who plan to vote in primaries wished they had more choices, and Pew found that 63 percent of Democrats are excited about several of the party’s candidates.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/11/08/hey-michael-bloomberg-no-one-wants-you-run-president/

Democrats have an excellent field this time round. If Bloomberg want's to be useful, he can set up a super PAC to kick the shyte out of trump and the GOP, organize a voter registration drive, and flood Facebook.

[Cha]

1. He'd be a hero if he did those things you

suggest, crazytown. Instead of a possible spoiler.. hated forever.

[crazytown]

2. We've got enough spoilers in this race already!

Including those who are not Democrats.

[Cha]

3. Yeah, that's all we need are more

spoilers.

[JaneQPublic]

4. Why Bloomberg when we have Steyer...

...if you want a billionaire to take on Trump?

Why does Bloomberg think we need an NYC mayor when deBlasio already tried?

Why does Bloomberg think we need him to run on climate change action when Jay Inslee already tried?

Why does Bloomberg think we need him to run on gun control when Eric Swalwell already tried?

Let's face it: MB is running because he doesn't think the current cast of candidates are fighting back hard enough against the progressive would-be billionaire taxers.

He's running to debate Warner and Sanders on why they need to keep their mitts off his $52 billion.

[progree]

5. Before joining The Post, Byler was chief elections analyst and a staff writer at the Weekly Standard

Hmmm.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/david-byler/


It's not an editorial or the opinion of the Washington Post editorial board. It's the opinion of one of many opinion writers, in this case David Byler's. Most large papers have several Op Ed writers (or "contributors" ) to give a wide array of opinions covering the political spectrum so that the paper can claim they are, well, giving a wide range of views. And so the paper can claim to be diverse rather than one-sided.

Given that he wrote for the very right-wing Weekly Standard, I'd be cautious reading his writings.

That said, I'm not crazy about Michael Bloomberg either. I just don't want people to think it's the Washington Post's editors' view. Hopefully they don't like Bloomberg either and will say so.

[ritapria]

6. Bloomberg has 100 million reasons to run for President

He thinks he can buy the nomination …..He is wrong ………. I'd like to see him campaigning in Iowa - but he is smart enough to skip the state

[crazytown]

8. He would begin in NV

weather SC, then onto the big mass media markets of Super Tuesday.

[tritsofme]

7. Most of these candidates are in the race for no reason other than their own vanity.

I’m not sure why it is such a tragedy to have another join them.

[Hortensis]

9. Agree. He could donate to Biden, who's returned nearly $1M

in donations to the donors for various reasons, far more than Sanders and Warren. Reasons can include disapproved donors and also not accepting GE donations during the primary.

Most notably, though, Biden did NOT bring the @$10M from prior elections to this campaign that Sanders and Warren both did, which was raised before they committed to no super PAC donations. Their current fundraising is admirably grassroots, of course, but they've been funding their campaigns so far with a lot of money that doesn't meet that standard.

Without their $10M kickstart, and of course without a topnotch social media fundraising machine, Biden has now decided to up his social media action and accept super PAC donations.

Good.

Biden supports taxpayer funding of elections, including constitutional amendments to get money out of politics and make that our new reality, but the only positions that matter are those of people who get the power to make them reality. And I believe he's the only one who would be able to win and win the congress we must have as well.

[crazytown]

10. If Bloomberg wants to support Biden's policies

I have no problem with that. Building up a head of steam behind the likely nominee, to be carried through into the GE, is something most Dems could get behind.

[Hortensis]

11. :) I could. But imo Bloomberg, #14 wealthiest man on the planet

(according to one source, but within the top 20), someone who decided NYC's term limits didn't work for him so got that changed, is a prime example of the giant threat to democracy that we must eliminate.

We're fortunate that at least his positions so far appear far more in line with democracy than what's happening on the right, but he's still far too powerful for the good of the people.

Nancy knows that. A lot of our Democrats who are constantly facing off against Bloomberg's kind of power do.

"We can have democracy in this country, OR we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."

Nancy Pelosi quoting pre- New Deal Justice Louis Brandeis to the nation at the opening of the 116th congress.

[TomSlick]

12. I will be curious to see if Bloomberg to get enough signatures in Alabama to get on the ballot.

If not, that should be the end of it.

[YOHABLO]

13. He'd do more good in building some housing for the homeless.

[Otto Lidenbrock]

14. Sounds to me Bloomberg is a candidate in waiting if Joe tanks in the early state voting

Bloomberg jumping in for Super Tuesday with all his money will not move the needle for what its worth IMO simply because you can't just helicopter in a presidential campaign...but his presence is a message to Joe to not take the eye of the ball one second because if he do, Bloomberg will jump in.

[Skya Rhen]

15. He won't able to buy his way onto a single debate stage but expects to be taken seriously? Please...

[Gothmog]

16. From Nate

Link to tweet

?s=20

[crazytown]

17. To be President of the United Statesyou've got to want it.

How many times has Bloomberg sniffed the wind? If he was serious, he would have declared by April.