With the Democratic presidential field beyond the New Hampshire primary in flux, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has become the subject of intense discussion. Might he save Democrats from a lackluster lineup of candidates? Is he the great centrist hope? Can he defeat President Trump?
Maybe, maybe, and maybe. But, there is another question: Would anyone be discussing Bloomberg absent his $55 billion fortune? The answer, of course, is no. But, for the moment, with Bloomberg having never been in a debate, with few voters having seen him, and with none having had a chance to vote when his name is on the ballot, Bloomberg attracts more than his share of media attention.
Bloomberg, who is skipping the early contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, is campaigning in Super Tuesday states. On Wednesday, he was in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He gave the impression of an executive from out of town who has been briefed on his audience and advised to score a few local points.
“You don’t see many presidential candidates here in Chattanooga, I’m told,” Bloomberg said. “But they don’t know that this is the home of the Moon Pie!”
There was scattered laughter from a very friendly audience. The crowd was friendly in part because it was assembled by the enormously expensive organizing force Bloomberg has assembled. “I’m sorry, we just never expected a crowd this big,” he told the group. “I’m so flattered.”
Bloomberg’s event, although apparently attended by a mostly white audience (Note: I was not at the event and instead watched it on video), had an atmosphere of outreach to African American voters. “It’s great to be here at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center,” Bloomberg said in a, “Now, class, listen to me,” tone, referring to the famous singer who was born in Chattanooga in 1894. “Now, I know Bessie was from Chattanooga, but we have a claim on her from New York City because she was really an important part of the Harlem Renaissance.”
Bloomberg was introduced by Elenora Woods, president of the local NAACP chapter, who is also a dentist and owner of one of the city’s two black-owned radio stations. Part of her assignment was to offer Bloomberg absolution for his 2015 “throw them against the wall” statement on the police practice of stop and frisk when he was mayor of New York City.
“I rose above adversity, despite the climate of racial tension and terrorism in the South,” Woods said. “I did it. I did it, and I know what racism looks like. I know what it looks like, and that’s not Mike Bloomberg.”
“I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of these racist attacks from Donald Trump,” Woods continued, “and I’m ready for a champion in the White House. I know Bloomberg would be a tireless fighter for economic justice for black America. Just look at his record.” One aspect of Bloomberg’s record Woods cited was the falling murder rate in New York City during his mayoralty, which might have had something to do with his police force’s tactics.
Woods added that she early-voted for Bloomberg that very day.
A Bloomberg staffer got the crowd to chant, “We Like Mike! We Like Mike! We Like Mike!” for a while. They all like Mike, he said, because, “Mike can get it done.”
But what is “it”? Most of all, Bloomberg said, “it” means defeating Trump, who Bloomberg repeatedly referred to as a bully. Except, for some reason, Bloomberg said “billy” when he meant to say “bully.”
“Let’s face it, Donald Trump is the world’s biggest schoolyard billy — bully — with no respect for civility, decency, or facts,” he said.
A few moments later, Bloomberg said, of the president, “I can just tell you, he’s not going to billy — bully — me. I keep saying billy — bully me, and I won’t let him bully you, either.”
Bloomberg made some vague references to his great wealth, as when he claimed credit for bankrolling the Democratic effort to impeach Trump. “In 2018, I helped flip the House … that made Pelosi the speaker,” he said. “They started the impeachment process, but it all came from that.”
But there was still the slogan, “Mike can get it done.” What, exactly, did “it” mean? Bloomberg was vague even as he touted what he suggested was an unrivaled ability to get “it” done. In the process, he made a classic independent’s appeal to the electorate:
Let me tell you why I’m the best candidate to take Donald Trump on and win. To start, I have workable and achievable plans to deal with the toughest challenges facing the country, and I will get it done. That’s the message we need to win voters all over this country and to beat Trump in the swing states that will decide this election because we all know the Trump strategy: Attack Democrats, make their plans look unrealistic, unaffordable, and undoable. That won’t work against me. I promise you, I offer a record of getting things done and commonsense plans that are workable. That’s what voters want. We don’t need a revolution. We want evolution, and we need a nominee who can deliver it.
Still, Bloomberg had not explained what it was that he would get done, only that, unlike his opponents, he would really, really, really get it done.
Finally, a bit later in his 18-minute speech, Bloomberg got around to what “it” is. It, he said, is winning in November. But it is also finally providing health insurance to Americans who don’t have it and lowering healthcare costs for everyone. It is enacting “commonsense gun safety laws.” It is “making America a global leader in the fight against climate change.” It is “creating good jobs with higher wages.” It is addressing discrimination and inequality. It is “fixing our broken immigration citizenship” and, especially, creating a path to citizenship for millions here illegally. It is “protecting a woman’s right to choose and appointing judges who will defend that right.”
That was basically all Bloomberg had to say about each topic; to say he did not go into detail would be an understatement. For all the buildup, “it” was a pedestrian restatement of every other Democratic candidate’s platform — actually, not their policies, but their general goals.
What made Bloomberg different was one thing: his money. Bloomberg has risen in the polls on the strength of more than $300 million spent so far, with untold hundreds of millions more to come. But, there is still that question of the voters. Many a campaign has appeared to have mojo until its first contact with voters. For Bloomberg, that test lies a few weeks, and many millions of dollars, ahead.
Let’s block ads! (Why?)