How Mike Bloomberg’s very expensive presidential run turned into an epic failure

March 05, 2020

His big spending strategy, which deployed glossy TV ads around the clock in dozens of states, seemed to be hitting the mark.

After months of campaigning in swing states such as Florida, Bloomberg managed to make the debate stage in February for the first time after the Democratic National Convention changed its qualification standards.

It was a pivotal moment for him, but he could not capitalize on it.

His performance was disastrous in his first showing. He was unable to respond to attacks by other Democrats on stage. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who criticized him for pumping millions into the campaign and accused him of trying to buy the election, dealt some of the harshest blows. She called Bloomberg a “billionaire who calls women ‘fat broads’ and ‘horse-faced lesbians'” while accusing him of inappropriate behavior toward women employees and of using nondisclosure agreements to prevent them from coming forward publicly.

At the same time, his campaign was plagued by past remarks he made in public or private that fell out of step with the values he preached on the trail. Several videos surfaced of Bloomberg casting aspersions on black and Latino men, poking fun at a family struck by tragedy and deriding transgender people. His mayoral “stop and frisk” policing policy that targeted people of color received renewed scrutiny.

Bloomberg apologized early in his campaign for leaning too heavily on that policy, which a federal judge ruled was applied in an unconstitutional manner by New York police. But critics used it as a rallying cry after the videos were circulated on Twitter.

Perhaps his biggest tormentor was the rival Bloomberg was most eager to defeat: Trump himself.

Trump made a habit of mocking Bloomberg’s 2020 bid, dubbing him “Mini Mike,” a moniker that he used to taunt the former New York mayor about his height. Bloomberg is about 5 feet 8 inches tall. Trump is 6 feet 3 inches tall.

“The biggest loser tonight, by far, is Mini Mike Bloomberg,” Trump tweeted during the rollout of Super Tuesday results. “His ‘political’ consultants took him for a ride. $700 million washed down the drain, and he got nothing for it but the nickname Mini Mike, and the complete destruction of his reputation. Way to go Mike!”

Super Tuesday results were a devastating blow to Bloomberg’s campaign, pushing him to withdraw from the race, even after he pledged numerous times to carry on until November.

Though results are still coming in, Bloomberg has so far earned just 24 delegates on Super Tuesday, compared with Biden’s 460 and Sanders’ 401.

Bloomberg will likely miss the delegate threshold by a hair in delegate-rich states California and Texas, according to NBC News projections. California, which has the largest number of delegates at stake with 415, and Texas, which has 228 delegates at stake, provided an opportunity for candidates to win big.

Observers noted that if Bloomberg continued in the race, he would only play the spoiler.

Biden, who currently leads the delegate count, “would have won even more delegates than he did if Bloomberg hadn’t been in the race,” Bannon said.

Bloomberg’s Super Tuesday results can only be described as an epic failure in light of the money he invested in ads in those states.

In those 14 states alone, he spent about $215 million of his own money, 12 times what Sanders spent there and more than 100 times what Biden spent, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Trump continued to delight in Bloomberg’s poor performance on Wednesday, slamming the billionaire in multiple tweets following the announcement of his departure.

“Mini Mike Bloomberg will now FIRE Tim O’Brien, and all of the fools and truly dumb people who got him into this MESS,” Trump tweeted. “This has been the worst, and most embarrassing, experience of his life … and now on to Sleepy Joe!”

Though Bloomberg has dropped his candidacy, he’s hardly leaving the race. He is expected to use his financial resources and campaign staff to help Biden win the election against Trump.

Bannon predicts that a Biden administration might ultimately find a spot for Bloomberg. “Bloomberg would get strong consideration for a high post in the Biden administration, maybe secretary of treasury,” Bannon said.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/04/mike-bloombergs-expensive-presidential-run-turns-into-epic-failure.html