Bloomberg bows out of presidential contest but his money will stay

[webfact]

Bloomberg bows out of presidential contest but his money will stay

By Jason Lange

 

Former Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg speaks after ending his campaign for president in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After a not-so-Super Tuesday, Michael Bloomberg is out of the presidential nomination contest. But the power of his $60 billion (£46.6 billion) fortune is staying in.

 

Bloomberg on Wednesday switched from being a candidate to being a powerful backer of former Vice President Joe Biden, who dominated March 3 Super Tuesday voting in the race to challenge President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election.

 

Bloomberg, the 78-year-old former mayor of New York and one of America's richest people, performed poorly at Tuesday's polls, winning only the U.S. territory of American Samoa despite spending more than $500 million in an unprecedented ad blitz.

 

In announcing he was ending his presidential run, he also endorsed Biden, who like Bloomberg is a moderate and is now the leading contender to take on the self-described democratic socialist, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, for the Democratic Party nomination.

 

"I will work to make him the next president of the United States," Bloomberg said of Biden in a statement.

 

It was not immediately clear how Bloomberg would support Biden. When asked what the support will look like, an official in Bloomberg's former campaign pointed to his past pledge to keep campaign infrastructure in place through November to help Democrats defeat Trump.

 

Bloomberg addressed a crowd of supporters in New York, thanking his staff for their efforts but providing no details on how he would spend his money.

 

Biden's deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said it wasn't clear how Biden's campaign will work with Bloomberg. "All of those details are still to be worked out," she said on a call with reporters.

 

Bloomberg had used advertising as part of his novel electoral strategy, in which he skipped the four early-voting states and instead focused on the 14-state Super Tuesday contest.

 

His ad campaign on Facebook, costing him about $63 million, appeared to go dark on Wednesday. No ads were listed as active on the social media platform's political ad library.

 

Biden, 77, the former vice president, accomplished his Super Tuesday goal of muscling Bloomberg aside and consolidating support of moderates to turn the race into a one-on-one contest against Sanders.

 

AVALANCHE OF CASH

Since entering the race on Nov. 24, Bloomberg spent freely from the fortune he built on his eponymous financial information company on an ad campaign that vaulted him into the top tier of the Democratic field.

 

He showed what an avalanche of cash could and could not do.

 

After Bloomberg blanketed the airwaves with promises that he could defeat the Republican Trump in November, his support among Democrats and independents in public opinion polls rose to around 15% from about 5% when he entered.

 

A tearful Mike Bloomberg, after ditching his presidential campaign and endorsing Democrat Joe Biden, told his supporters in New York City "tomorrow is going to be even better."

 

He hired thousands of staff and mounted a vigorous national tour focused on the 14 states that voted on Super Tuesday.

 

But he failed to win much more than 15% of the vote in any state on Tuesday. With counting still under way, Bloomberg's vote tallies were enough to pick up some delegates to the party's July convention - in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

 

Bloomberg's campaign was dogged from the start by criticism over his past support of policies seen as racially discriminatory, including stop-and-frisk policing, which ensnared a disproportionate number of African-Americans and Latinos, as well as past sexist remarks.

 

Bloomberg apologised for stop-and-frisk a few days before he announced his candidacy.

 

His Democratic rivals attacked him in his first presidential debate on Feb. 19 in Nevada. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren lambasted him for having made crude jokes about women in years past and Sanders accused him of trying to buy the election.

 

Outside his rallies - which were often smaller than those of his rivals - protesters regularly waved signs echoing Sanders' claim. Inside them, Bloomberg detractors and enthusiasts alike ate from tables stocked with free food.

 

Bloomberg was assailed for his spending despite his pledge to use his personal fortune to support the eventual Democratic nominee, whoever it was.

 

When Bloomberg got into the race many months after other leading candidates, he said he was worried none of the other candidates could beat Trump.

 

"Trump would eat 'em up," he told CBS's "This Morning" on Dec. 6. He increasingly pitched himself as the centrist alternative to Sanders. In the Feb. 19 debate, he described Sanders' policies as "communism."

 

Bloomberg's political fortunes initially rose after Biden, who led in public opinion polls during much of 2019, performed poorly in the first three nomination contests: Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

 

Bloomberg did not compete in those races, nor in the fourth contest in South Carolina, saying his late entry made it impossible to assemble a competitive election staff.

 

Bloomberg heavily criticized Trump, and the two New York billionaires traded insults, with Trump mocking Bloomberg's short stature on Twitter, nicknaming him "mini-Mike."

 

Bloomberg earned his estimated $60 billion fortune by founding Bloomberg LP, a leading purveyor of financial information for Wall Street firms.

 

After spending much of his life as a Democrat, he switched to the Republican party in 2001 to run for mayor of New York. He became an independent in 2007, and switched back to the Democratic Party in 2018.

 

His past as a Republican also dogged him during his presidential run. Warren attacked Bloomberg at the Democrats' Feb. 25 debate for giving money in 2012 to support the election campaign of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican and a key ally of Trump.

 

(Graphic - Calendar of each state’s Democratic nominating contest and its allocated delegates, https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ELECTION-CALENDAR/0100B31F26V/index.html)

 

(Graphic - Delegate tracker and results, https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ELECTION-DELEGATE-TRACKER/0100B5DR3JT/index.html)

 

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Additional reporting by Jonnelle Marte in New York and Trevor Hunnicutt in Los Angeles; Editing by Richard Valdmanis, Jonathan Oatis and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-05

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[Tug]

Not only the money and personal but his vast business intelligence network it’s going to be harder for trumps slander machine to get away with stuff and look at that market boost once investors saw a moderate normal politician in the running!

[Odysseus123]

Having no horse in the race-the thing that strikes me the most is that they are all geriatrics.

 

Is the US a gerontocracy?

[ezzra]

Pity on the hundreds of millions that went to waste, could have done a lot of good with it, but US elections is not about doing good is it now?...

[Puchaiyank]

A glaring weakness in democratic elections is that money often sways elections in favor of the wealthy or the candidate with wealthy donors. 

 

One's vision of the future is often colored green...????

 

 

 

 

[gargamon]

43 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Pity on the hundreds of millions that went to waste

Hundreds of millions is nothing to Bloomberg. He makes over 100 million a day...

[henry2109]

7 minutes ago, gargamon said:

Hundreds of millions is nothing to Bloomberg. He makes over 100 million a day...

100 million a day?  so 36.5 billion a year? hardly

 

come back with different numbers please

[ehs818]

I'm glad that Bloomberg is out and is now supporting Biden. But I think that he should also support Senate races in the contests that could turn the Senate BLUE again. With the House, Senate, AND White House democratic, a lot can be accomplished. PLUS a lot of things that tRump has done can then be UNdone.

[Tug]

48 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

A glaring weakness in democratic elections is that money often sways elections in favor of the wealthy or the candidate with wealthy donors. 

 

One's vision of the future is often colored green...????

 

 

 

 

Yup that’s the reality of politics in America today sad but true ya gots to pay to play

[Tug]

4 minutes ago, ehs818 said:

I'm glad that Bloomberg is out and is now supporting Biden. But I think that he should also support Senate races in the contests that could turn the Senate BLUE again. With the House, Senate, AND White House democratic, a lot can be accomplished. PLUS a lot of things that tRump has done can then be UNdone.

Oh I’m sure he is big time!

[Chomper Higgot]

Bloomberg said from the start that his objective is to have Trump voted out of office and that regardless of how his own candidacy goes he would continue to spend money to achieve that aim.

[Chomper Higgot]

1 minute ago, Tug said:

Yup that’s the reality of politics in America today sad but true ya gots to pay to play

Which is why ‘Citizens United’ needs repealing.

[Nyezhov]

Sorry, dude lost me on guns and super size sodas when he was Mayor of NYC (wherein a he did a generally decent job)

[kamahele]

1 hour ago, Nyezhov said:

Sorry, dude lost me on guns and super size sodas when he was Mayor of NYC (wherein a he did a generally decent job)

His work on guns was to reduce murder and suicide in NYC and his attempt to reduce the use of supersized colas was to reduce obesity and diabetes in NYC which as well as being a killer of citizens is a huge cost to the city.

[Nyezhov]

3 minutes ago, kamahele said:

His work on guns was to reduce murder and suicide in NYC and his attempt to reduce the use of supersized colas was to reduce obesity and diabetes in NYC which as well as being a killer of citizens is a huge cost to the city.

Well I just feel safer and more healthier.

 

He should reduce subway cars and tall buildings too to keep that suicide rate down.

[gargamon]

1 hour ago, henry2109 said:

100 million a day?  so 36.5 billion a year? hardly

 

come back with different numbers please

Bloomberg, a privately owned company makes about 10 billion a year. With 200 working days in a year, that's 50 million a day. Bloomberg, personally, makes 0 dollars a year since he has no salary...

[Rimmer]

Troll meme removed

[Kelsall]

Bloomberg is something like 60 times richer than Trump yet was unable to buy the presidency.

 

I guess the presidency can't be bought.

[Silurian]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Bloomberg, the 78-year-old former mayor of New York and one of America's richest people, performed poorly at Tuesday's polls, winning only the U.S. territory of American Samoa despite spending more than $500 million in an unprecedented ad blitz.

 

At least his money went out into the world and paid for other people's salaries and businesses. I would rather have him tossing around his cash to American business and the American public than hording it. He probably created more jobs by spending his wealth than that terrible Republican Tax Cut.

 

Keep it up Mike! Redistribute that wealth!

[henry2109]

3 hours ago, gargamon said:

Bloomberg, a privately owned company makes about 10 billion a year. With 200 working days in a year, that's 50 million a day. Bloomberg, personally, makes 0 dollars a year since he has no salary...

Bloomberg L.P. does not at all earn 10 billion a year. That is the revenue. try again.

[thaibeachlovers]

9 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

A glaring weakness in democratic elections is that money often sways elections in favor of the wealthy or the candidate with wealthy donors. 

 

One's vision of the future is often colored green...????

 

 

 

 

Bloomberg discovered that money can't always buy stuff. Might have helped if he had some charisma. Watching his speech I was struck by how bland he is- no passion, no humour, no charisma.

However, Biden was just as bland- as passionate as a wet paper bag, IMO.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, Kelsall said:

Bloomberg is something like 60 times richer than Trump yet was unable to buy the presidency.

 

I guess the presidency can't be bought.

or at least the candidate has to have more than money. Charisma would be a good start. Ads only get one so far.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, kamahele said:

His work on guns was to reduce murder and suicide in NYC and his attempt to reduce the use of supersized colas was to reduce obesity and diabetes in NYC which as well as being a killer of citizens is a huge cost to the city.

You think gang bangers use legal weapons?

[Sujo]

10 hours ago, ezzra said:

Pity on the hundreds of millions that went to waste, could have done a lot of good with it, but US elections is not about doing good is it now?...

Its not going to waste if its used to get rid of trump.

[Sujo]

7 hours ago, Kelsall said:

Bloomberg is something like 60 times richer than Trump yet was unable to buy the presidency.

 

I guess the presidency can't be bought.

Well you dont know if trump has any money at all.

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, Sujo said:

Its not going to waste if its used to get rid of trump.

Let us know how it went in November.

[GinBoy2]

8 hours ago, Kelsall said:

Bloomberg is something like 60 times richer than Trump yet was unable to buy the presidency.

 

I guess the presidency can't be bought.

I totally agree.

 

In some ways this a chink of good news in the whole US electoral system.

 

With the demise of both Bloomberg & Steyer, I guess the electorate may be a little brighter than we thought, and can't be bought by Billionaires!

[Sujo]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You think gang bangers use legal weapons?

Banning guns is not done.in isolation to other laws to reduce their use.

[Sujo]

1 hour ago, GinBoy2 said:

I totally agree.

 

In some ways this a chink of good news in the whole US electoral system.

 

With the demise of both Bloomberg & Steyer, I guess the electorate may be a little brighter than we thought, and can't be bought by Billionaires!

Well thats certainly proven true for dems. For repubs no.

[Cryingdick]

9 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

or at least the candidate has to have more than money. Charisma would be a good start. Ads only get one so far.

 

Bloomberg has to be the biggest failures in the history of elections. He got his head handed to him at both debates. He came off as arrogant, self righteous, entitled and clueless. For a guy with money like that he has no class whatsoever. He didn't fool anybody and was basically eaten up and puked out.

 

The dems wanted money out of politics? Good luck to Biden. He is going to get an offer from Bloomberg. Mike will pull out his pocket and if Biden wants his money he will have to walk behind Mike holding the pocket. Just like they do in prison. 

 

Bernie might be a lost cause at this point but if Bloomberg is the new party sugar daddy, Bernie is liable to crucify Biden over that. Just last week half the dems here were all for Bloomberg. Now before the body is cold they are back with Biden with all the terrible things they were saying a week ago. It all reeks of desperation.