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| Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has opened the door to a presidential run. |
"Wonderful. If Senator Warren wins the nomination, I was going to vote for Trump even though I don't like him. But I definitely want to vote for Mr. Bloomberg because he is for free trade, he is pro-business, and he's an environmentalist. He would be the best president this country ever had."
What someone else wrote at the New York Times:
"The best news I’ve read in weeks. For those who argue we don’t need a billionaire I would argue that a self made billionaire is a person who cannot be bought because he is beholden to no one. Most importantly he is a brilliant manager, loves our country, is a proponent of our environment, is smart and it’s just a great thing for him to run. He does not need to do this for his ego or power. There will also be the inevitable invasion of his private life and all that nonsense that running for public office entails and he’s willing to go for it because HE CARES. He wants to give and I greatly admire him for that. Go Bloomberg!"
What someone else wrote at the New York Times:
"I am a Republican who planned to vote for Trump while holding my nose. He's gotten the economy working better than Obama, but there's no denying that he's one of the most repulsive, egotistical, self-centered, detestable blowhards on the face of the earth. If Mike runs, and I hope he does, I'll vote for him in a New York minute. Mike will know how to keep the economy humming AND will treat human beings decently at the same time. What a concept...and what an opportunity to bring our nation together. He'd win most Democratic votes AND a huge number of Republican votes. He'll be a guaranteed winner on the day he announces and on Election Day."
What someone else wrote at the New York Times:
Hallelujah! My prayers have been answered. Just imagine a pragmatic can-do, middle of the road independent with plenty of executive experience actually focusing on getting things done in the White House! Compromising and collaborating with the sane parts of BOTH parties to work on infrastructure, long term reform of our entitlement programs, environment protection, gun control, immigration reform. It would be almost nirvana compared to a choice between a nativist, corrupt and incompetent Trump or one of the socialist utopians like Warren/Sanders on the left.
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This is what the Wall Street Journal wrote about it:
POLITICS ELECTION 2020
Michael Bloomberg Preparing to Enter 2020 Democratic Race
Former New York City mayor‘s decision comes as some in the party—especially wealthy donors—grumble about the leftward lurch of the party.
By Tarini Parti and Emily Glazer
Updated November 7, 2019 6:57 pm ET
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is taking steps to enter the 2020 presidential race as a Democrat, one of his advisers said, months after saying he wouldn’t run.
The former New York City Mayor is preparing a possible bid out of concern that the current candidates may not be able to defeat President Donald Trump, said his adviser Howard Wolfson.
“Mike believes that Donald Trump represents an unprecedented threat to our nation,” Mr. Wolfson said.
“Mike is increasingly concerned that the current field of candidates is not well positioned to do that,” Mr. Wolfson said. “If Mike runs he would offer a new choice to Democrats built on a unique record running America’s biggest city, building a business from scratch and taking on some of America’s toughest challenges as a high-impact philanthropist.”
Mr. Wolfson said Mr. Bloomberg was making preparations to appear on Alabama’s primary ballot. The filing deadline is Friday, and Alabama is one of 14 states holding contests on March 3, known as “Super Tuesday.”
Mr. Bloomberg’s move toward running comes as some in the party—especially wealthy donors—grumble about the leftward lurch of the party, with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the rise and former Vice President Joe Biden faltering in early states.
The New York Times first reported Mr. Bloomberg’s plans.
If he moves forward with a presidential run, Mr. Bloomberg would join 16 other candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, including another billionaire, Tom Steyer. Mr. Bloomberg, 77, will also add to the septuagenarians in the field.
Mr. Bloomberg’s possible entry comes as a Monmouth University poll released Wednesday found the majority of those surveyed—74%—were satisfied with the current field, and only 16% said they wanted another candidate to run.
Mr. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, flirted with the idea of running late last year. He’d invested tens of millions of dollars to help Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections and made several stops in December 2018 in Iowa, where the nomination season begins with the Feb. 3 caucuses.
During his three terms as mayor, Mr. Bloomberg was a registered Republican and an independent. He re-registered as a Democrat a month before the 2018 election.
Mr. Bloomberg announced in March he wouldn’t run for president because of the difficulty in winning the Democratic Party’s nomination.
“I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election,” Mr. Bloomberg wrote. “But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field.”
In August at a gun-control event that he helped finance in Iowa, Mr. Bloomberg criticized Ms. Warren for her aggressive tone toward corporations and Wall Street.
“I just said to Sen. Warren on the way out, ‘Senator, congratulations, it was a nice talk, but just let me remind you if my company hadn’t been successful, we wouldn’t be here today,’ so enough with this stuff,” Mr. Bloomberg said.
Mr. Bloomberg has been a frequent critic of President Trump. “Trump says he wants to run the nation like he’s run his business? God help us,” Mr. Bloomberg said at the 2016 Democratic National Convention where he endorsed Hillary Clinton. “I’m a New Yorker, and I know a con when I see one.”
—Sabrina Siddiqui and Emily Glazer contributed to this article.
Write to Tarini Parti at Tarini.Parti@wsj.com and Emily Glazer at emily.glazer@wsj.com
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This what Michael Bloomberg wrote on March 5, 2019 when he decided to not be a candidate for president. Thank goodness he changed his mind.
Editorial Board
Our Highest Office, My Deepest Obligation
I’m not running for president, but I am launching a new campaign: Beyond Carbon.
By Michael R. Bloomberg
March 5, 2019
I’ve never made any secret of my belief that Donald Trump is a threat to our country. At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, I said: “New Yorkers know a con when we see one.” Last fall I spent more than $100 million supporting Democrats in the midterm elections. Republicans in Congress had failed — and are still failing — to fulfill their constitutional duty to hold the president accountable. Instead, they indulge his worst impulses and refuse to work with Democrats on the most urgent issues.
It’s essential that we nominate a Democrat who will be in the strongest position to defeat Donald Trump and bring our country back together. We cannot allow the primary process to drag the party to an extreme that would diminish our chances in the general election and translate into “Four More Years.”
Many people have urged me to run. Some have told me that to win the Democratic nomination, I would need to change my views to match the polls. But I’ve been hearing that my whole political career.
I’ve run for office three times and won each time, in no small part because I’ve never stuck my finger in the wind to decide what I should believe. It’s not who I am, nor do I think it’s what voters want in a leader. They want someone who levels with them, even when they disagree, and who is capable of offering practical, sensible, and ambitious ideas — and of solving problems and delivering results.
I come out of the business world. I’ve had executive jobs in both the private sector and government. Finding solutions to tough problems is my life’s passion. My skills are in building and leading teams that draw up innovative plans and then work together to implement them. I think this is exactly what our country needs in a president, especially after what will be four years of chaos, disruption, and deceit.
I know what it takes to run a winning campaign, and every day when I read the news, I grow more frustrated by the incompetence in the Oval Office. I know we can do better as a country. And I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election. But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field.
There is another factor that has weighed heavily on my mind: the likelihood that our biggest national problems will worsen over the next two years. With a leader in the White House who refuses to bring the parties together, it will be nearly impossible for Congress to address the major challenges we face, including climate change, gun violence, the opioid crisis, failing public schools, and college affordability. All are likely to grow more severe, and many of the president’s executive actions will only compound matters.
I love our country too much to sit back and hope for the best as national problems get worse. But I also recognize that until 2021, and possibly longer, our only real hope for progress lies outside of Washington. And unlike most who are running or thinking of it, I’m fortunate enough to be in a position to devote the resources needed to bring people together and make a big difference.
Since leaving public office, I’ve created and supported initiatives that are rallying citizens and leaders of cities, states, businesses, and nonprofit organizations to take action on their own. Like me, most Americans want to improve their communities and get things done. Together, we’ve shown that’s possible even without help from Washington.
I know there’s much more we can accomplish over the next two years, but only if we stay focused on the work and expand upon it. And the fact is: A national presidential campaign would limit my ability to do that.
So as I’ve thought about a possible presidential campaign, the choice before me has become clear. Should I devote the next two years to talking about my ideas and record, knowing that I might never win the Democratic nomination? Or should I spend the next two years doubling down on the work that I am already leading and funding, and that I know can produce real and beneficial results for the country, right now?
I’ve come to realize that I’m less interested in talking than doing. And I have concluded that, for now, the best way for me to help our country is by rolling up my sleeves and continuing to get work done.
Here’s one way I’ll do that. In 2011, following the failure of cap and trade legislation in Congress, I teamed up with the Sierra Club on a campaign called Beyond Coal. By organizing and mobilizing communities affected by the harmful pollution of coal-fired power plants, we have helped close more than half the nation’s plants — 285 out of 530 — and replaced them with cleaner and cheaper energy. That was the single biggest reason the U.S. has been able to reduce its carbon footprint by 11 percent — and cut deaths from coal power plants from 13,000 to 3,000.
Now, I will take the next big steps. First, I will expand my support for the Beyond Coal campaign so that we can retire every single coal-fired power plant over the next 11 years. That’s not a pipe dream. We can do it. And second, I will launch a new, even more ambitious phase of the campaign — Beyond Carbon: a grassroots effort to begin moving America as quickly as possible away from oil and gas and toward a 100 percent clean energy economy.
At the heart of Beyond Carbon is the conviction that, as the science has made clear, every year matters. The idea of a Green New Deal — first suggested by the columnist Tom Friedman more than a decade ago — stands no chance of passage in the Senate over the next two years. But Mother Nature does not wait on our political calendar, and neither can we.
The same applies to gun violence. Congress has not passed a major gun safety bill in nearly 25 years. Last week the Democratic House voted to approve a bill strengthening the background check system, but the Republican Senate is virtually guaranteed to block it. Nevertheless, thanks to strong grassroots efforts that we have spent years organizing and mobilizing, 20 states have passed stronger background check bills or adopted other laws that help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. But 20 states is not enough, and we can’t stop now given the risks to our country.
Gun violence and climate change are not the only urgent challenges where we must make progress even as Washington continues to ignore proven solutions.
We know how to improve public schools and dramatically reduce the racial achievement gap. We did it in New York City, by raising standards, increasing accountability, and giving our children the education they need to thrive in today’s knowledge- and technology-based economy.
We know how to increase access to college for low-income students. My foundation is doing just that, by working with colleges to increase financial aid and recruitment, and giving high school students more support with the application process.
We know how to reduce opioid addiction; improve the quality of health care and access to it; and reduce homelessness on our streets. We extended life expectancy by three years in New York City, and I’m working to help other cities make similar progress.
We know how to strengthen local communities, by investing in civic leaders and the innovative work they are doing to tackle our nation’s challenges from the ground up. This is a central focus of my foundation’s work, and it is where answers to many of our toughest challenges lie.
And we know that to protect our democracy, we need to organize to protect every citizen’s right to vote.
On these and other issues, Washington is unlikely to take effective action over the next two years. Progress depends entirely on the rest of us.
In the weeks and months ahead, I will dive even deeper into the work of turning around our country, through concrete actions and results. And I will continue supporting candidates who can provide the leadership we need — on climate change, gun violence, education, health, voting rights, and other critical issues — and continue holding their feet to the fire to deliver what they promise.
I hope those who have urged me to run, and to stand up for the values and principles that they hold dear, will understand that my decision was guided by one question: How can I best serve the country?
While there would be no higher honor than serving as president, my highest obligation as a citizen is to help the country the best way I can, right now.
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