Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is thinking about an independent run for the Presidency, according to the Néw York Times.
He is annoyed that fellow billionaire Donald Trump is leading the GOP pack. He is disappointed in Hillary because she is not enthusiastic about charter schools. He disdains Sanders as a socialist.
He has a campaign staff ready to go and will announce his decision in March.
If he should be president, prepare for mass privatization of public education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I noticed some of this speculation last night on TV with various pairings of candidates, Bloomberg, Clinton, Sanders in various combinations tested via one of a gazillion survey companies. I think that his ego, money and connections will put him into the race
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Better put, the END of public ed as we know it. Obama/Duncan X 1000. If it is Trump vs Sanders and he enters 5he race, he could win. Many moderate Republicans and Democrats will vote for him over the other two in a heartbeat. Let’s hope that his doesn’t happen!
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He is a cross between sHillary and trump. He has the Wall Street and corporate support of sHillary and the ego and endless supply of cash (even more)’ like trump. Bernie Sanders would win a three way between trump and bloomberb, as the billionaire/millonaire would split the fear and greed vote! Feel The Bern!!!
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Bernie will still win. Bloomberg will not appeal to southerners or midwesterners.
Bernie will expose how disgusting Bloomberg is
Goes to show you how scared the billionaires are of their agendas becoming torpedoed.
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One word: NUTS!
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There is always room for one more clown in the Republican clown car.
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Perhaps he can abolish the fourth amendment for the whole country now, instead of just for African-Americans. But seriously, this is just another pathetic example of billionaire narcissism. Michael Bloomberg’s silly vanity campaign will die a slow, ugly death.
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Don’t see Bloomberg as a viable nationwide candidate. Bernie is accepted by many Christians because his policies follow closer to Christ than any of the Republicans. Bloomberg is also Jewish, but his values are certainly not in line with most of America. It would be a gift to Sanders (whom i support) and a death knell for Trump/GOP.
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I can’t wait to not vote for Bloombucks.
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Michael Bloomberg please be our president !
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Michael Bloomberg, please perish!
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Big Gulp ticket?
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What voters across the political spectrum feel is anger toward the rich and powerful. It is a deep, berning sensation…
Billionaire versus billionaire versus anti-billionaire. I like Bernie’s odds in that scenario, no matter what form of attempt to buy the vote takes place this year.
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Yes, because average people are SICK to death of the crap put forthin the alst 40 years, and how it’s gotten worse over each year . . . .
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Who’s the amalgam of the soul of America? Montel Williams 2016.
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Will Bloomberg run, the 64 oz question.
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I live in a very red state, but most people (I think) see how crazy Trump is. They don’t like Hillary because of Bill and be cause she’s a Democrat. They think Bernie is way too far to the left. I think Bloomberg might win here.
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Do they even know what to far to the left means? I doubt that most can even define the policies that they they disagree with.
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bmarshall is right about red states. Ask the majority, what a democratic socialist is, and they’ll give a blank stare Right-wing parrots are non-thinkers.
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The question is if Bloomberg runs, he will end up being a spoiler for either the GOP or the Democrats. Who will he steal votes from: Trump, Sanders or Hillary?
It’s confusing—Here’s what I found”
Michael Bloomberg is “an elitist New York City-liberal gun grabbing American Democratic billionaire politician” who “served as mayor of New York City for three terms, 2002 to 2013. Even though he was a life-long registered Democrat, Michael Bloomberg successfully ran for mayor as a Republican in 2001 due in large part to the support of popular outgoing mayor Rudy Giuliani, and was reelected in 2005. He ran for a third term in 2009 as an independent, spending a record-breaking sum—the equivalent of $174.53 per vote (more than ten times his competitor)”
So, from a liberal Democrat to a Republican to an independent. Who is the real Michael Bloomberg? Is this the answer—Bloomberg is traditionally known as a fiscal conservative with social liberal tendencies? Huh?
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“Bloomberg is traditionally known as a fiscal conservative with social liberal tendencies? Huh?”
The word for this is Corporate Democrat, and it describes a lot of the Democrats, maybe even most of them.
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Isn’t a corporate democrat a new-liberal?
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I don’t know if there are precise, agreed upon definitions here, but the vast majority of Democrats are much more “left-leaning” on social issues than they are on fiscal issues, and it is largely because they are owned by corporations and wall street.
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I want to see some reliable data with links from studies/research on this. Not because I’m challenging your allegations but because I like to provide hard data that is hard to refute when I write about it.
For instance, what are the ratios for liberals, progressive and centrists in the Democratic Party and how many winning candidates had more campaign contributions from corporate than average grass roots American citizens.
“You could hardly get a better illustration of the current tribal divide in the Democratic Party. Call it what you want—liberals versus centrists, populists versus the corporate wing—but these days, there’s no doubt there are two different breeds of Democrats, both in elected office and in the activist grassroots.”
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/no-liberals-dont-control-the-democratic-party/283653/
In other words, it is very easy to throw out unsupported allegations as if they are hard truth and offer nothing in the form of reliable linked data as support.
Did you know that Trump is from another planet? He’s not even a citizen of the United States. He was born light years from the earth. I know this for a fact. Trump isn’t human.
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I understand your concern, however, it is not so far out to say that modern day Democrats are more socially liberal than fiscally liberal, or that they are highly susceptible to the influence of moneyed interests. I do, perhaps, take it for granted that most readers of this blog understand that.
Ask: How many Democrats agree with Bernie Sanders on “social” issues (gay marriage, pay equity, voter registration, marijuana) vs “fiscal” issues (free higher ed, minimum wage to 15, money out of politics, glass-steagall, tax structure, rebuilding infrastructure, social security, etc)
Answer that, and I think it’s pretty clear.
It is in the news every day, and there is evidence all around us, that publicly elected officials, whether “Democrat” or “Republican,” are not doing what will help the people economically. Are people mad at politicians because they don’t align with them on social issues? Not nearly so much, and less so with the Democratic Party. While I’m sure formal polls/studies exist in this domain, I don’t think it is necessary to invoke them in this case. To pay attention is to have plenty reason to believe.
We do know and can confirm that the public thinks their elected officials are corrupt:
“Most say lawmakers corrupt, out of touch, favor special interests
Record 48% say their own representative is out of touch
Record 32% say their own member is corrupt”
[https://www.gallup.com/poll/185918/majority-americans-congress-touch-corrupt.aspx]
…perhaps that is because it is so well-known and documented that politicians are largely funded by big money and big power: [https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/]
…which leads us to the final question, I wonder which will be influenced more by the well-known reality of money in politics: politicians’ social stances, or their fiscal stances?
Perhaps I should take more time to dig up old studies and charts that I have reviewed, but my usual approach is not the same as saying that Donald Trump is from the fourth moon of Endor.
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Really, Endor? I thought Trump was a Dalek, a Cylon or a Borg—they don’t come from Endor
As for how many billionaires support the Democratic vs. Republican parties, I found this from PolitiFact.com
“The top 100 donors of 2012 gave 41 percent of all the money collected by outside spending groups, and of their donations, 71 percent went to conservative groups.” and “Democrats may have closed the gap this cycle by getting more support from the growing number of young, ultra-wealthy liberals in Silicon Valley.”
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2014/jun/23/do-many-billionaires-support-democratic-party/
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In his 2015 publication “Saving Capitalism,” Robert Reich all but condemns our political system (including both major parties), and blames it for the cause of our economic woes:
“Democratic candidates no longer rely nearly as much on labor unions to finance their campaigns as they do wealthy individuals. In 2012, the richest 0.01 percent of households gave Democratic candidates more than four times what unions contributed to their campaigns. The loss of American workers’ collective economic power has thereby compounded the loss of their political power, which in turn has accelerated the loss of their economic power.”
…
“While nonbusiness causes, such as the rights of minorities and women, continue to have better odds of success under Democratic administrations and Democratic Congresses than under Republican ones, business interests have done well under both.”
[He then goes on to give lots of specific examples, bringing us to our favorite… Barack Obama, who “in fact presided over one of the most pro-business administrations in American history.”]
…
“The career paths of recent Democratic officials before and after holding office confirmed their close ties to business and Wall Street.” [He then lists politicians who go into lobbying, banking, speculation, etc… immediately after their departure from politics]
…
“The pertinent comparison is not between the career paths of Democrats and Replicans but between people who served in Washington decades before the big money began pouring in and those who served after the deluge began … In recent years, fully half of all retiring senators and 42 percent of retiring representatives have turned to lobby, regardless of party affiliation.”
And so on. I recommend the book.
Essentially, most politicians are bought to some extent, no matter if they are Democrats or Republicans. Leading to fiscal conservatism. The DNC still proudly brags, though, that they are the party for women, minorities, and LGBT.
And yeah, Trump is a bit too nefarious to come from that fuzzy forest moon.
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Now that was some good reliable facts.
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Bloomberg is whatever gets him where he wants to go–a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, whatever. What Bloomberg is not is a leader who represents anyone other than Bloomberg.
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Bloomberg wins the race for Trump.
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Act Blue, with a fund raising page for Democrats for Education Reform, has a listing of
” 2014 Reformers of the Month”. They include: Mary Landrieu (La.), Kay Hagan (N.C.),
Shavar Jeffries (N.J.), Alisha Morgan (GA.) Erika Beltran (Texas) and Christin Mitchell (Il.)
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I get the impression that this run would be much like Jeb!’s run. Lots of initial hype and support from the 1-percenters and mainstream media. Little voter support.
Move along, nothing to see here.
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