Bloomberg can’t win, and if he did he could be worse than Trump – Labour Article
Michael Bloomberg, the former Mayor of New York, did not get a chance to run in 2016. His threat, to run as an independent should Senator Sanders get the nomination, was not necessary after Hillary Clinton had won the Democrat nomination. This time he has ditched his Independent label and is running as a full-throated capital “D” Democrat.
This primary run is unlikely to be successful. However, should he win via brokered convention, it will almost definitely result in a second Trump term. Not that this would bother Michael much. Seeing as their views, policy and character share many similarities.
With the bulk of delegates yet to be appointed, the primaries are only really getting started. But, Bloomberg’s path to the nomination already seems to be narrowing. His strategy was to avoid the early states and pile on heavy with the advertisements on states voting on Super Tuesday (A single day where 14 states hand out 33.8% of the delegates).
This tactic has never been successful as the early states often act as a springboard to the latter. However, Bloomberg seems to break this convention as he seems to be polling well in later states.
In his adverts, all half a billion dollars worth of them, he appears charismatic, successful and above all, presidential. This facade held up until his first debate appearance. On a stage which he had spent $300,000 in bribes to be on.
Unfortunately for Bloomberg, his last election had been for his third term as Mayor of New York City in 2009. Eleven years have passed since then and his skills were simply not up to snuff and he acted the very opposite of his advertisement persona.
He came across pompous, flustered, and thoroughly unprepared. That night, Elizabeth Warren landed multiple shots on him. Calling him out for his racist ‘stop and frisk’ policy (that he later lied about), his profligate spending in order to ‘buy the nomination’, and for his previous sexist comments to employees. 62 of which have led to sexual harassment cases, settled out of court with NDAs to boot.
It later came out that current Bloomberg campaign staffers also had to sign NDAs that would waive their rights to report workplace abuse and discrimination. Sound like anyone?
His next debate performance was markedly better, apart from a Freudian slip by almost saying that he had bought his endorsements – which he definitely did. However, it may be too late. His numbers are slipping and there doesn’t look like there will be time to regain support and achieve the nomination, especially with the moderate lane of the party coalescing around Biden.
Bloomberg’s team seems to have reached a similar conclusion and have already started strategising for a brokered convention. This process is triggered when no candidate reaches a majority of the votes and a second ballot commences with superdelegates in play (party leaders with approx 400 votes).
This could be why Bloomberg has been hiring superdelegates to his campaign, including Texan and Californian Vice-Chairs of the party. This apparently is not in contradiction with any campaign laws, an error that must be fixed.
Should this be the method that Bloomberg, or any non-plurality holding candidate for that matter, use to garner victory, the loss to Trump will be almost certain. Not due to people switching parties – even with Bloomberg this is unlikely. Instead, millions of first-time voters, newly enthused by the progressive wing of the party, as well as old school Democrats will simply choose not to vote.
Many will be so turned off by the anti-democratic way the Democrats chose the nominee, they’ll just sit this one out. Indeed many of them may never return to politics. Or we could have a repeat of 1968, where violence broke out on the streets of Chicago after the DNC arbitrarily chose their nominee.
Returning voters may look at Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg and see that most of the difference between them is aesthetic. Trump is loud, crass and rude whilst Bloomberg is mild-mannered and polite (in public, not to female employees).
Once you get past their public persona, a lot of the policies they have enacted have had similar racist and sexist undertones, combined with authoritarian tendencies. This might not be surprising seeing as they are good friends, or were until 2016. They certainly both feature in a particular black book together.
So, the decision between Trump and Bloomberg would be a decision between in your face racist authoritarianism and a more quiet, subtle variant. I am sure many of the democratic party elite will be willing to hold their nose and overlook the fact that as late as 2016, Bloomberg was funding Republicans. They would probably take anyone, as long as there is a “Democrat” in power.
But I believe millions of blue voters, new and old, will not be willing to stomach such a man. No doubt leading to four more years of Trump. Democrats, elites and voters must look past his shiny facade and see the danger underneath. Although most did during Super Tuesday, this commitment must continue till the end of the nomination!
Written by Labour writer, Daniel Orchard
Point of Information
I have faith Bloomberg won’t win – a Liberal response
Personally, with Bernie, I am 50/50. I go back and forth between thinking that he will be great or that what he is saying will never actually pass in Congress. This is if he beats Trump, which I think is unlikely. For Mr Orchard and Bernie to worry about Bloomberg at this point seems redundant. In fact, I reckon it could be a blessing in disguise for his campaign.
Over the last week, moderate nominees like Pete Buttigieg have dropped out, with Buttigieg now supporting Biden for the nomination. Biden should be the one worrying about Bloomberg. Although it was Biden who dominated Super Tuesday, Bloomberg did follow closely to Sanders. If Bloomberg hadn’t run, I think Biden would of won by a landslide.
I don’t think Bloomberg will get in anyway, especially after Super Tuesday. He has ultimately wasted millions of dollars. Maybe he simply wanted to pull voters to the centre for Biden? Although that seems unlikely. Either way, I hope Mr Orchard can stop worrying.
Written by Liberal writer, Max Anderson
Trump in disguise? Would that work…? – a Conservative response
Late to the race, it appears all but set that Bloomberg isn’t going to make it to the final stand against President Trump. However, he is pumping hundreds of millions into his campaign, making sure everyone hears him. It seems to be the one way he could yet stand a chance.
While I agree with Mr Anderson that worrying about Bloomberg is mostly pointless, I do feel as though the race isn’t over until the fat lady sings. Would Mr Bloomberg really invest so much if he didn’t think he could win? This isn’t a celebrity making a publicity stunt.
As Mr Orchard said, this is a man worth billions. He is a charismatic, even presidential figure! So, Mr Orchard may be right in worrying about the potential for a ‘Trump vs other-Trump’ presidential race.
Written by Conservative writer, Joshua Tyrrell
Daniel Orchard
My journey into politics is pretty different to what most people have. I can’t claim to have watched PMQ’s obsessively since a young age nor did I pour over the broadsheets for every political factoid I could muster.
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Daniel Orchard#molongui-disabled-link
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Daniel Orchard#molongui-disabled-link
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Daniel Orchard#molongui-disabled-link
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Daniel Orchard#molongui-disabled-link
