Michael Bloomberg is officially running for president

"Michael R. Bloomberg is actively preparing to enter the Democratic presidential primary and is expected to file paperwork this week designating himself as a candidate in at least one state with an early filing deadline, people briefed on Mr. Bloomberg’s plans said."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/us/politics/mi…

How will this affect the primary?

138 Comments
 

Why the fuck does anyone want this job? This guy could fuck off forever and he wants this shitty job?

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 
"justphresh" Money is fleeting and goes away when you're dead. Power and Legacy live on. Don't conflate the two

That's fine but the job still sucks.

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 

I personally think that it is good and healthy that some (the more the better) politicians are from business backgrounds as they know how to run things, make decisions and aren’t here just to be re-elected by ensuring their voters are happy for them and be lifers. Politics should be seen as serving your country for up to 10 years, bring new ideas to the table but not be a lifetime thing.

Big fan of some of the Nordics in that sense (see Denmark) - there is a reasons why these countries are doing so well both financially and living quality/happiness wise.

 
"Pan European Monkey" I personally think that it is good and healthy that some (the more the better) politicians are from business backgrounds as they know how to run things, make decisions and aren’t here just to be re-elected by ensuring their voters are happy for them and be lifers. Politics should be seen as serving your country for up to 10 years, bring new ideas to the table but not be a lifetime thing.

Big fan of some of the Nordics in that sense (see Denmark) - there is a reasons why these countries are doing so well both financially and living quality/happiness wise.

They are also not diverse and are quite insular. But no need to mention that part, doesn’t fit the narrative

 
Funniest

Bloomies gonna get skullfucked. A short Jewish man with a nanny complex has no appeal outside of NYC let alone the party that hates "Old, White men". He's never had a five-minute conversation with a non-cosmopolitan American. He's gonna go to Iowa and say some shit like I'll outlaw Circle K Polar Pops by EO and get the shit booed out of. He's gonna get a dose of reality real quick.

 

You may not be familiar with Bloomberg's history and how dems view his politics. The extreme left might not vote for him but the majority of dems would seriously consider voting for him. I think that most moderate dems consider him to be more of a democrat than a republican. Even though he was a republican mayor, he was a democrat for the majority of his life. I do not think his success in business and wealth is a negative for most dems. In fact, I think the dems view his previous accomplishments in a very positive way.

Does that mean he will get the nomination? I have no idea. It may be difficult to convince voters to change their minds and vote for another candidate at this point. It might be too late.

 

I think Bloomberg is seeing a gap in the anti-Warren camp on Wall Street, a place he is familiar with it. A man with his resources must be aware of some ground reality. Either he is too optimistic and thinks that he can use the gap in anti-Warren, anti-Sanders and pro-Wall Street clubs to get to the top job. Or, he is too pragmatic and understands that by just running, he is singlehandedly undermining the Warren & Sanders camp while not empowering the Trump camp.

 
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"Verbose Corporation" I think Bloomberg is seeing a gap in the anti-Warren camp on Wall Street, a place he is familiar with it. A man with his resources must be aware of some ground reality. Either he is too optimistic and thinks that he can use the gap in anti-Warren, anti-Sanders and pro-Wall Street clubs to get to the top job. Or, he is too pragmatic and understands that by just running, he is singlehandedly undermining the Warren & Sanders camp while not empowering the Trump camp.

Exactly. If you don't like Trump style but are not very fond of Warren policies you are kind of stuck. You'll probably end up relunctantly voting Trump because at the end of the day, your $$ are safer with him, nobody really cares about his scandals and BS.

 

In wealth management in Midwest. There are definitely a few hardline Never Trumpers, but overwhelmingly this is the sentiment of the people with money .Obviously I’m sure there is a skew pro-Trump in the south/Midwest compared to battleground and coasts, but i think most people have done largely what the dems told everyone to do when Slick Willy was getting BJ’s in the Oval: “Look the other way, it doesn’t relate to his presidential duties.”

 
"Zafrynex"Exactly. If you don't like Trump style but are not very fond of Warren policies you are kind of stuck. You'll probably end up relunctantly voting Trump because at the end of the day, your $$ are safer with him, nobody really cares about his scandals and BS.

Nonsense.

Faced with that choice, I would grit my teeth and pick Warren 10 out of 10 times. There's only so much domestic policy damage she could do in four years (she would never get her wealth tax passed in its current form or full on government healthcare - especially not in year 3 as she says she plans) whereas Trump is currently undermining our Democracy, cozying up to authoritarians, threatening America's relevance on the world stage, hurting people's wallets with his off the cuff trade wars, and being a general piece of shit.

It isn't even remotely close.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Why did he file for the Alabama primary? Would that not make him ineligible and loose delegates from the Iowa Caucus and other previous primaries.

 
"2733278823" "Michael R. Bloomberg is actively preparing to enter the Democratic presidential primary and is expected to file paperwork this week designating himself as a candidate in at least one state with an early filing deadline, people briefed on Mr. Bloomberg’s plans said."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/us/politics/michael-bloomberg-presid…

How will this affect the primary?

Bloomberg may end up running into the buzzsaw that is reality. America is not "fiscally conservative and socially liberal." It's exactly the opposite. Being in his bubble in NYC leads him to believe that there is some sort of silent majority that wants pro-market, fiscally responsible policies and aggressively liberal social policies. This is the exact opposite of reality.

Array
 

Genuinely curious: what makes you say this?

"real_Skankhunt42" America is not "fiscally conservative and socially liberal." It's exactly the opposite.
I live in CA, so another "coastal bubble". Do you have any articles or data to show America being the opposite? Not trying to prove you wrong, really just curious and trying to learn.
“The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.” - Nassim Taleb
 
"Malta Monkey" Genuinely curious: what makes you say this?
"real_Skankhunt42" America is not "fiscally conservative and socially liberal." It's exactly the opposite.

I live in CA, so another "coastal bubble". Do you have any articles or data to show America being the opposite? Not trying to prove you wrong, really just curious and trying to learn.

You would struggle to find many examples of a fiscal and economic conservative and social liberal being elected to national office. This has simply not happened in the modern age with any President. The American public hates taxes and loves spending, which is why we have a $23 trillion debt and $44 trillion unfunded entitlement liability due in the next 2-3 decades. The American public, in particular, is fiscally profligate. The U.S. is generally a free market economy, but we have many highly regulated industries--health care, housing, banking, insurance, education, energy. The American public is not as free market-oriented as I would like, and it is less market-oriented than the ostensibly socialist regimes of Northern Europe, according to analyses by right-leaning think tanks (Heritage, Cato).

On the other hand, the U.S. has a much more socially conservative orientation relative to Europe or Canada. We have more freedom of speech, more access to guns, in most cases more restrictions on abortion, no hate speech laws, and a lot of skepticism for political correctness, as well as far more religious people.

Array
 

I posted this in another thread: https://images.theweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/scre…</a" alt="test" /> The two tribes of America are: -economically mixed/social conservative -pansexual genderfluid communist

That's it. Fiscally conservative and socially liberal is a tiny minority.

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

I guess you have convinced yourself that Bloomberg is not aware of the views outside of NYC. I am confident that your statement is false. He is a a highly intelligent person who ran a large corporation that does business across the US and the world.

 
"financeabc" I guess you have convinced yourself that Bloomberg is not aware of the views outside of NYC. I am confident that your statement is false. He is a a highly intelligent person who ran a large corporation that does business across the US and the world.

Bloomberg's two primary issues are gun control and climate change, which rank near the bottom of the list of issues Americans care about. These issues would play horribly in the swing states.

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"ResearchLackey19" lmfao who threw shit at this?

Wasn't me, but probably someone who both disagreed with the statement and the matter-of-fact method in which it was delivered

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

I suppose he will be going after the Biden lane of the primary, although Buttigieg has been slowly creeping into it with his criticisms of Warren's plan.

This all looks a bit desperate though. There was a time to jump in. It isn't now.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Weird that the growing popularity of a front-runner proposing a billionaire tax suddenly compels all these billionaires to find their patriotic duty for public service.

If he, Steyer, or Schultz actually cared about stopping Trump, they'd dump their millions into a SuperPAC for one of the top candidates, help fund voting restoration rights, and/or start a progressive media company to counter the Fox propaganda powerhouse. They care about their egos, and paying less in taxes, same as always.

Bloomberg won't get above 20% in a single state primary.

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 
"MMBanker14" Correct. But I'm sure he also thinks he'd make the best President and that there's a gap that Biden is not filling that he could. I'm sure he sees Biden being Biden and thinks Warren and Sanders are too far left to beat Trump (whether that's the case or not, who knows).

Biden is slipping because he's too old and too far right for the likely electorate voting in the Democratic primary. Bloomberg is older than Biden, and further right.

Playing this out, the most likely outcome if Bloomberg stays in the race is he splits the moderate vote with Biden/Pete, Warren wins the nomination, and Trump gets re-elected.

Or, he could put $500mm behind Biden, Pete, or Booker, and help support a moderate ticket that could actually win the primary and general.

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 
"Alt-Ctr-Left" Weird that the growing popularity of a front-runner proposing a billionaire tax suddenly compels all these billionaires to find their patriotic duty for public service.
Micheal Bloomberg was the Mayor of NYC for like 11 years...
"Alt-Ctr-Left"If he, Steyer, or Schultz actually cared about stopping Trump they'd....start a progressive media company to counter the Fox propaganda powerhouse. They care about their egos, and paying less in taxes, same as always.

Riiight?! CNN, MSNBC, NBC, NYT, WaPo, every movie that comes out of Hollywood...it's not enough to counter the propaganda from this one cable network!!

Oh, also - Bloomberg, LP is actually a mass media company including a globally-syndicated TV network (in addition to magazines, radio stations, etc...)

 
Controversial
"Click OK to Continue" Riiight?! CNN, MSNBC, NBC, NYT, WaPo, every movie that comes out of Hollywood...it's not enough to counter the propaganda from this one cable network!!

There is absolutely no equivalent on the Left to the power and reach Fox News has on its viewers and voters who download 4 hours of Hannity/Dobbs/Carlson/Ingraham propaganda every night to receive their talking points of the week, where Dear Leader is rarely criticized, and anyone who dares do so is shouted off the network. Just this week, the morning show had a meltdown pretending Trump wasn't overwhelmingly booed at the UFC event last week. State media, full-on propaganda.

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 

Would you really, ever, recommend to anyone to start a tv channel at this point in history? Just saying...I'm not even touching the political part yet.

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

Bloomberg I think correctly realizes that the leading Democratic candidates will get destroyed by Trump in the general election. Biden sounded mildly retarded when he was in his forties. Scary how incompetent he sounds now. E. Warren cannot win a general election. People like me will sit out when stuck between an ego maniac who is an embarrassment and someone who will annihilate my income/money with taxes.

Trump supporters will not sit out.

Bloomberg is sort of Goldilocks for me and many of the people I know. I think Buttigieg is quite good as well, however, the odds of an openly gay man being President won’t fly in middle America/swing states just yet. We’ve made a lot of progress in gay rights, but not that much. Booker would have an ok chance against Trump, but it seems difficult to imagine he gets the nomination. I feel like Booker and Buttigieg are running for VP at this point.

 
"DickFuld" Bloomberg I think correctly realizes that the leading Democratic candidates will get destroyed by Trump in the general election.

...but polls show that all major dems would beat trump in a general election. Elizabeth Warren is a shrewd politician and my guess is that she would run closer to center during the general election.

 
"financeabc"
"DickFuld" Bloomberg I think correctly realizes that the leading Democratic candidates will get destroyed by Trump in the general election.

...but polls show that all major dems would beat trump in a general election. Elizabeth Warren is a shrewd politician and my guess is that she would run closer to center during the general election.

Personally, I think the election will depend heavily on turnout. Trump has a wider base that is passionate about him than Warren does, especially in swing states. Trump is the most unpopular President in at least a generation, but he has a strange stronghold on his base. If the impeachment moves to a removal from office, the more likely that Bloomberg or another moderate Dem wins. A removal from office is very unlikely with the evidence out there right now, so that’s probably a moot point.

I’m not sure older Dems or minorities are as passionate about Warren as young white women. Union voters who used to vote Dem almost uniformly have been divided by Trump and Warren won’t win any of them back.

Don’t ask me for evidence as this is largely conjecture and I don’t feel like doing research. I just don’t think the leading Dems have a good chance against Trump, especially Warren and Biden. They are losers.

Bloomberg is a winner. Winners win and losers lose.

 

Not sure Bloomberg can win this late but he has a better shot than any other democrat. I still think Trump probably gets re-elected but MB's appeal carries enough weight to at least make 2020 interesting. He could grab a big chunk of votes from moderates who like Trump policy but don't necessarily like him. Maybe that only represents a small portion of the vote--like some have argued here--but in my own conversations it seems to come up a lot. I think that voter tranche will be significant if Bloomberg can capture it.

 
"JVRE" Not sure Bloomberg can win this late but he has a better shot than any other democrat.

The polling doesn't say that at all

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
"CRE"
"JVRE" Not sure Bloomberg can win this late but he has a better shot than any other democrat.

The polling doesn't say that at all

The polling numbers look terrible for him and I am sure he is aware of this issue. Realistically, his entrance into the race, take votes from Biden and results in Warren getting the nomination. She would probably be the nominee anyway: with or without Bloomberg in the race.

 

I strongly believe that if the elections happened tomorrow, Trump would get re-elected. Even if Bloomberg does not make it all the way, I think he can add some depth to the dem conversations that has been full of speculations and populism.

 
"PteroGonzalez" Bloomberg is way more competent than any of the bozos currently running. He needs to get off his gun obsession because swing state voters don't want to hear about it. He can win if he stops it with that shit.

I guess you are saying he should be dishonest and suddenly change his views on gun control. Don't we have enough dishonest politicians? If he changes his views on gun control, liberal thinkers may not vote for him.

 
"PteroGonzalez" I'm surprised to see comments supporting Warren on here. I don't know how anyone who knows anything could support Warren.

Recent example of something she said: "When private equity firms acquire companies, suck out all the value they can, and walk away rich—leaving workers, their families, and their communities suffering with the consequences—it’s legalized looting. I have a plan to end it."

How about just the sheer stupidity of the comment? How and why would you "end" private ownership of companies? It's beyond stupid. I expect some people (high school dropouts, art history majors, etc) to fall for her bullshit but didn't expect to see it here on WSO.

Except at no time has Warren said she will end private equity ownership. If you'd have taken the time to read her policy proposal (which you clearly have not done) she has suggested a series of measures to regulate some of the behavior she views as ill-advised, such as: - prioritize worker pay and benefits in the seniority of distributions in the event of a bankruptcy (the horror!) - ban dividends for the first two years of company ownership (gasp!) - require funds to disclose fees and returns to potential LPs (can you imagine!) - close the carried interest loophole (something noted socialist President Donald Trump has pledged to do as recently as six months ago!) - hold firms liable for debt obligations undertaken by portcos (this is the only one I take issue with, and yet a sponsor using 2x of LP equity with 6x of unitranche debt leaves them with no "skin in the game" and a giant moral hazard.

"PteroGonzalez" I'm surprised to see comments supporting Warren on here. I don't know how anyone who knows anything could support Warren.

It's beyond stupid. I expect some people (high school dropouts, art history majors, etc) to fall for her bullshit but didn't expect to see it here on WSO.

I hear ya buddy. I'm amazed there's a single person on this forum that can fall for Trump's daily conman bullshit tornado, but that's half this site now.

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 

Most Americans are economically center at best. Seriously, economic libertarianism is not really popular at all outside of some circles (circles that overlap with certain social classes that Americans increasingly hate). The main divide is social issues and the future of American politics is tribal.

Nobody wants a neoliberal corporatist because this country has been run by those people since FDR died, and people (both left and right) are fed up. The US establishment is in for a reckoning. They're lucky they haven't gotten the 1792 treatment already.

Someone like Mitt Romney or Jeb Bush will never be elected president.

 
"Yankee Doodle"The US establishment is in for a reckoning. They're lucky they haven't gotten the 1792 treatment already.

I'm as big a critic as anyone of the establishment, but let's be real--this is the richest, most successful nation in the history of mankind. There are a lot of keyboard warriors, but nobody is going to rise up against a ruling class that presides over vast wealth and an incredible quality of life. The French Revolution was evil and disgusting but fully understandable as there was vast and grinding poverty responding to a rich monarchy that didn't act like it cared.

Array
 
"real_Skankhunt42"
"Yankee Doodle"The US establishment is in for a reckoning. They're lucky they haven't gotten the 1792 treatment already.

I'm as big a critic as anyone of the establishment, but let's be real--this is the richest, most successful nation in the history of mankind. There are a lot of keyboard warriors, but nobody is going to rise up against a ruling class that presides over vast wealth and an incredible quality of life. The French Revolution was evil and disgusting but fully understandable as there was vast and grinding poverty responding to a rich monarchy that didn't act like it cared.

That's a bold statement to make right in a time when Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are the two most popular politicians in America.

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 

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