Presidential race 2020: Michael Bloomberg takes steps to run
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is taking steps to enter the 2020 race for the US Democratic presidential nomination.
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is taking steps to enter the 2020 race for the US Democratic presidential nomination, one of his advisers said, months after the former New York City mayor said he would not run.
Mr Bloomberg is preparing a possible bid out of concern that the current candidates may not be able to defeat Donald Trump, adviser Howard Wolfson said.
“Mike believes that Donald Trump represents an unprecedented threat to our nation,” Mr Wolfson said.
“We now need to finish the job and ensure that Trump is defeated — but Mike is increasingly concerned that the current field of candidates is not well positioned to do that.”
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Mr Wolfson said Mr Bloomberg was making preparations to appear on Alabama’s primary ballot. The filing deadline is Friday (Saturday, AEDT), and Alabama is one of 14 states holding contests on March 3, known as Super Tuesday.
People familiar with Mr Bloomberg’s plans said he hadn’t made a final decision about whether to run. His entry would add anew dimension to an already crowded field and offer a well-financed alternative to former vice-president Joe Biden for voters seeking a more centrist candidate to challenge the President.
Two leading progressive candidates, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, cheered the potential of another billionaire joining Tom Steyer in the 16-person race.
Senator Warren, who has made her wealth tax a signature part of her agenda, welcomed Mr Bloomberg and referred him to her campaign’s “calculator for the billionaires”. Senator Sanders tweeted: “The billionaire class is scared and they should be scared.”
Mr Bloomberg, 77, would add to the septuagenarians in the field, joining Mr Biden and senators Sanders and Warren against Mr Trump, 73.
Mr Bloomberg’s move towards running comes as some — especially wealthy donors — grumble about the leftward lurch of the party, with Senator Warren on the rise and Mr Biden faltering in early states.
Democratic strategist Joe Trippi said Mr Bloomberg’s potential entry could serve as a “big disruption” in the race. “There’s plenty of obstacles, but the fact is, he’s got the resources to compete,” he said.
Mr Trippi said Mr Bloomberg and his advisers were unlikely to be “entertaining this unless they saw a path”, but he would enter the field with fewer than 100 days before the Iowa caucuses and months after most top candidates have plowed millions of dollars into organising in early states.
The filing deadline for New Hampshire, the second nominating contest, is on November 15.
A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found late last month that 85 per cent of Democrat primary voters were satisfied with their choices for presidential nominee.
The founder of Bloomberg News flirted with the idea of running late last year. He had invested tens of millions of dollars to help Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections and made several stops in December in Iowa, where the nomination season begins with the February 3 caucuses.
Mr Bloomberg had been a lifelong Democrat before joining the Republican Party ahead of his run for mayor in 2001. He left the GOP and became unaffiliated with any party when he flirted with running for president in 2008. He re-registered as a Democrat last year.
Mr Bloomberg said in March he wouldn’t run for president because of the difficulty in winning the Democrat nomination.
He didn’t fully close the door to running, however, a source said.
Mr Bloomberg’s team had an deadline of about a year before election day on November 3, 2020, to decide. He discussed the possibility of running on Thursday with former Senate leader Harry Reid of Nevada, a powerbroker in the early voting state.
The Wall Street Journal
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