February 28, 2020

"The [Bloomberg] campaign is simultaneously a sophisticated, well-funded effort to win the presidency and a bizarre grift that allows staffers to enjoy catered meals and six-figure incomes. "

"It has inspired some people to get involved in politics and is at least attempting to create the framework for a real volunteer effort. But it also shows off that ground game to reporters with a Potemkin canvass that seems like a cobbled-together public relations exercise rather than a window into an organic grassroots effort.... If Joe Biden loses South Carolina to Bernie Sanders on Saturday, three days before Super Tuesday, it has the potential to turn the race into a binary choice, and that’s the type of campaign Bloomberg seems to be building. It’s designed to make the pitch to Democrats that if they have to pick between two septuagenarian Semites with questionable ties to the party, Bloomberg is the lesser of two evils. It’s not a campaign of inspiration or passion. It’s one of calculation. After all, Bloomberg is not spending the money to buy love. It just has to make him more tolerable than Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump."

From "Michael Bloomberg’s North Carolina Game Is Seriously Unlike Anything Else/The Super Tuesday state is the former New York mayor’s best shot at primary delegates — and he knows it" (Medium).

52 comments:

gahrie said...

Bloomberg is the guy that the Left accuses Trump of being.

wendybar said...

Buying the election from the inside out.

wendybar said...

I wonder why Dinesh D'Souza got arrested and jailed for campaign finance violation ($20,000) when Bloomberg bragged about buying Nancy the Speakerdom???? I guess laws really are just for the little people.

stlcdr said...

Isn't Bloomburg exactly what Sanders supporters are against? So, if they conspire to keep Bernie out - using the DNCs own rules, so it's not exactly a hidden conspiracy - who will the Bernie Bros (to coin a phrase) vote for?

tim maguire said...

I've worked with volunteers enough to know that if you can afford to have everything done by paid staff, then you use paid staff. Everyone else can struggle along with volunteers if that's all they can afford; Bloomberg can afford better.

tim maguire said...

wendybar said...I guess laws really are just for the little people.

And Republicans who aren't currently useful to Democrats.

Ken B said...

Where do I sign up?

gilbar said...

laws really are just for the little people

republicans are little people
independents are little people
rank and file democrats are little people

Only the Democrat Elite (PRAISE THEM! PRAISE THEM!) are immune from the law;
for Only the Democrat Elite (PT!PT!) are not little people

WK said...

“.... it has the potential to turn the race into a binary choice”
We need to ensure that there is a non-binary choice. Political fluidity.

Never-Biden Never-Putin said...

I hope the GOP seize on Bloomies comment during the last debate where he admitted BUYING the house of representatives.

Bob Boyd said...

The Bloomberg campaign is...a bizarre grift

And the perfect symbol of the much larger grift that Bloomberg and his supporters are trying to preserve. They want to get "back to normal".

Nonapod said...

It's an interesting exercise in attempting to design a complex system like a presidential campaign in a top down way. I'm certain it will fail, just like most top down approaches.

You can buy all sorts of things, but can you can't actually buy passion. And that's what Bloomberg lacks on all fronts. Unlike Trump and Bernie, Bloomberg is bloodless.

Freeman Hunt said...

Why is "Semite" listed among negatives?!

Mark said...

That someone is able to buy the presidency is worse than the election of even a communist. Sanders would at least be subject to checks and balances.

Temujin said...

It's amazing because...well, among other things, Bloomberg hates the south.

Never-Biden Never-Putin said...

Like Hillary said - "CLOSE RANKS!"

rcocean said...

Jeff zucker created a fake news network. And the MSM verified it!

Levi Starks said...

Next time you see a Bloomberg tv ad, look at the expressions on the faces of supporters behind him holding signs.
They’re all voting for Bernie.

Anonymous said...

"The [Bloomberg] campaign is simultaneously a sophisticated, well-funded effort to win the presidency and a bizarre grift that allows staffers to enjoy catered meals and six-figure incomes."

Most campaigns have a top-tier in which the operators cover the spectrum from (more or less) honest professional consultants to out-and-out grifters. The further down the totem-pole you go, the higher the percentage of staff working because they sincerely want to get their candidate elected.

But with the Bloomberg campaign you get the feeling that the grifters go all the way down.

Skeptical Voter said...

Hey in the gig economy a gig is a gig. A guaranteed six figure salary through November 2020 can put a lot of backsides in chairs to do the candidate's bidding. That's not grift, it's a job. You're selling a product--it could be worse, you could be at Proctor & Gamble selling soap.

Francisco D said...

Next time you see a Bloomberg tv ad, look at the expressions on the faces of supporters behind him holding signs.
They’re all voting for Bernie.


We have a winner!

Greg the class traitor said...

"The [Bloomberg] campaign is simultaneously a sophisticated, well-funded effort to win the presidency and a bizarre grift that allows staffers to enjoy catered meals and six-figure incomes. "

No

The Bloomberg campaign deliberately offers high salaries and expensive benefits because they want to have their pick of employees.

The consultants who convinced Bloomberg to get in were grifters. The people accepting the offers that Bloomberg created are not.


"If Joe Biden loses South Carolina to Bernie Sanders on Saturday"

Biden's leading in every poll I know of, and every poll on the RCP average, for South Carolina. His lead's been increasing in recent polls.

So, if you want an example of "shameless grift / dishonesty", I'd say the author of this piece is more guilty that anyone hired by bloomberg after he decided to run.

Greg the class traitor said...

Nonapod said...

You can buy all sorts of things, but can you can't actually buy passion. And that's what Bloomberg lacks on all fronts.

That will change, IMHO, if he become the "obvious alternative" to Bernie. Because there will be a bunch of Democrats who are passionate about stopping Bernie

But, other than that? Yeah, it's just a job

narciso said...

ben Jacobs, the weasel for the guardian, that got the beat down in montana, some cycles ago,

rehajm said...

If Joe Biden loses South Carolina to Bernie Sanders on Saturday, three days before Super Tuesday, it has the potential to turn the race into a binary choice, and that’s the type of campaign Bloomberg seems to be building.

This is weak analysis- Bloomberg isn't even contesting South Carolina, so what Biden does or doesn't in SC isn't much of a factor to Bloomie's current strategy.

...and the strategy claimed is pretty much every other candidates strategy at this point with Bernie the presumed frontrunner until at least tomorrow.

Yancey Ward said...

The latest SC polls have Biden up by 12 points. I will take the under on that outcome tomorrow. I think Biden wins, but by less than 5% over Sanders. This might be the optimal result for Sanders- it keeps Biden and Bloomberg both in the race fighting for the same white voters.

rehajm said...

I'd think it dangerous to assume the quality of your campaign is directly proportional to how much you pay your staff. Certainly the outcome...

Yancey Ward said...

Sanders is quite lucky that SC is being contested by 7 candidates- even Steyer polls well there. Had it been head up between Sanders and Biden, the outcome would likely have been the same as 2016 when it was just Sanders and Clinton with Biden crushing Sanders like Clinton did.

CJ said...

If I was a democrat pimped out to the Bloomberg campaign, damn right I would be enjoying prime rib and single malt scotch. For starters.

stutefish said...

"Septuaginarian semites"

Stay classy, Medium.

narciso said...

I don't begrudge him whatever he's spending, his advice doesn't seem to be very good.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Money can't buy you love, but it can buy you company.

Bay Area Guy said...

Free Food! To hell with stop and frisk!

Greg the class traitor said...

Yancey Ward said...
The latest SC polls have Biden up by 12 points. I will take the under on that outcome tomorrow. I think Biden wins, but by less than 5% over Sanders. This might be the optimal result for Sanders- it keeps Biden and Bloomberg both in the race fighting for the same white voters.

I think the best result for America is for Crazy Grandpa Joe to win SC, the higher the better. A three way fight between Joe, Bernie, and Bloomie means no one gets 50%, probably no one even gets 40% of the delegates, but all three are consistently getting over 15% of the vote, which means all three get delegates in every State.

If Bernie is below 40% of 1st Round delegates the Dems will have no hesitation about stealing the nomination from him. He's more likely to end up there if people who don't like Bloomie OR Bernie have a 3rd candidate to vote for.

I think Sanders at the top of the ticket would be an electoral disaster for the Democrats. But Sanders with a plurality of the delegates, denied the nomination, with either Alzheimer's Joe or Billionaire Mike at the top of the ticket? that would be both a short and medium term disaster for the Dems.

So I'm happy either way

Earnest Prole said...

Now that the Republican party has been taken over by a billionaire Democrat, it's only fair that the Democratic party be taken over by a billionaire Republican.

Greg the class traitor said...

narciso said...
I don't begrudge him whatever he's spending, his advice doesn't seem to be very good.

That's the question: is the advice bad, or is Bloomberg just not taking / not competent to follow, the good advice he's getting?

I can't decide which would be worse

rehajm said...

So I'm happy either way

I think that's a good take. I can't figure out what the worse outcome is for the Dems- the brokered convention without nominating Bernie, stealing it from him when he earns enough votes, or just running him in the general...

Bay Area Guy said...

" A three way fight between Joe, Bernie, and Bloomie means no one gets 50%, "

It also means you have 3 78-year old white, male, heterosexuals battling to lead the Democrat Party. Why are the Dems so opposed to diversity?

Greg the class traitor said...

Earnest Prole said...
Now that the Republican party has been taken over by a billionaire Democrat, it's only fair that the Democratic party be taken over by a billionaire Republican.


So, here's the funny thing. If the Democrats had NOT gone nuts about Trump winning, and had been willing to play to his ego and cut deals, IMAO the Trump Admin would really have sucked a lot from a "conservative GOP" perspective.

Instead, we have one of the most effectively conservative Presidents since WWII.


Since Republicans are a lot smarter than Democrats, if Bloomberg were to win, the GOP wouldn't make that mistake

Gunner said...

Steve Smith, Rick Wilson and Ana Navarro wish that Bloomie would pay them for their useless, election-losing advice.

JaimeRoberto said...

Buttigieg is another Semite, being Maltese.

Earnest Prole said...

So, here's the funny thing. If the Democrats had NOT gone nuts about Trump winning, and had been willing to play to his ego and cut deals, IMAO the Trump Admin would really have sucked a lot from a "conservative GOP" perspective.

Agree 1,000 percent. Trump thinks astronomical federal debt is just peachy (and why not, since astronomical business debt ended up being his salvation), so if Democrats had simply flattered him they would have been well on their way to an infrastructure extravaganza and who know what else.

Achilles said...

Gunner said...

Steve Smith, Rick Wilson and Ana Navarro wish that Bloomie would pay them for their useless, election-losing advice.

They already have gigs as paid globalist mouthpieces.

Achilles said...

Earnest Prole said...

Agree 1,000 percent. Trump thinks astronomical federal debt is just peachy (and why not, since astronomical business debt ended up being his salvation), so if Democrats had simply flattered him they would have been well on their way to an infrastructure extravaganza and who know what else.


The predictions of doom from the debt alarmists have been about as accurate as the predictions of doom from the climate alarmists.

Nobody intelligent is going to commit political suicide. So get over it.

It will just end up being printed out.

Inflation and growth are what we are voting for.

Caligula said...

"Bloomberg is the lesser of two evils. It’s not a campaign of inspiration or passion. It’s one of calculation."

Yes, but, isn't that the very same logic that got Bloomberg elected mayor of New York?

Michael K said...

So I'm happy either way

Me too.

As for the national debt, nothing will be done until default stares them in the face. Neither party has this as a concern.

madAsHell said...

Why is "Semite" listed among negatives?!

Now do anti-fas, and fascists. Words have new meanings.

Perhaps, your re-education is overdue. /sarc

Bilwick said...

It's all a grift. "Buy the statist snake-oil I'm peddling, and in an exchange I'll give you . . . "

Earnest Prole said...

Nobody intelligent is going to commit political suicide. So get over it.

You’ve apparently confused me with someone who gives a fuck.

As the Democrats become the party of the rich and the Republicans the party of the poor, their positions on the wisdom of racking up enormous debt in times of peace and prosperity will also switch, offering the opportunity for a deal. Until then we’ll spend like gay sailors in a Turkish bathhouse.

rehajm said...

Debt disaster happens gradually. Then all at once...

JML said...

Abby from the Bloomberg campaign texted me earlier today and told me we need a democrat candidate who can defeat Trump, and she asked if she could count on my vote. I asked her how much, or could I at least get an iPhone with THREE cameras?

She has not yet replied.

daskol said...

The attempt to portray Bloomberg as a viable 2020 Dem nominee is almost as shameful and insulting as pretending that Biden was the odds on favorite. There are still a lot of people, Disney and lately James Poulos call them imagineers, who believe if they say it enough and get the right people to repeat it enough, that will make it so. This is not how things work anymore, but instead of changing tactics, they just turn it up to 11. The media are the worst, until next week, and they’ll be even worse.