As of a few days ago, Bloomberg had spent $386 million solely on advertisements, and he entered the race only two months ago. This amount is far more than any of the other candidates, doubling billionaire Tom Steyer’s spendings. And, as shown by various polls, this money does not seem to be in vain. Bloomberg, as of Monday, rose to second place in a national poll, allowing him to qualify for his first 2020 Democratic primary debate, this Wednesday in Nevada. Bloomberg appears to be attracting previous Biden supporters - while Bloomberg’s vote percentage rose, Biden’s has been falling. According to national polls, Bloomberg has been attracting moderate Democrats, older voters, small-town and rural voters (regardless of his experience being a mayor of New York, a huge metropolitan city), and non-college educated white voters. Overall, it is appearing more and more likely that Bloomberg, who will be on the Democratic ballot on Super Tuesday (March 3) may prove to be the most prominent moderate Democratic candidate, going up against Biden, Klobuchar, and Buttigieg. Regardless, he will have a major effect on who will receive the nomination and face Trump for the Presidential election.
Discussion Questions:
- Does Bloomberg stand a chance at receiving the Democratic nomination, even though he is entering the “playing field” later than the rest?
- Should candidates be able to spend an unlimited amount of money on their campaigns? Should it depend on whether it is their own money or from donors/supporters?
- How do you think this year’s candidates compare to those of the 2008 or 2016 Democratic primaries? Are they more or less qualified? More or less moderate or extreme?
I believe Bloomberg does stand a chance at receiving the Democratic nomination, because he is promises so much, in terms of helping the nation. I really don't think it matters where the money comes from in a campaign. Either way, the money is being used in the same way.
ReplyDeleteI think that he does have a chance to get the nomination and because he is a self made billionaire he has a chance to beat trump. I do think he can spend as much as he wants because he gained all of his money by himself and by working hard. I also think that bloomberg is one of the more moderate candidates compared to Sanders or warren
ReplyDeleteWhile I think Bloomberg has a good chance of receiving the democratic nomination, I do not think he will win the Presidency. The Electoral College is much too republican for a democrat to enter presidency at the moment, so my best guess is that Trump will win the election. I think the candidates of 2020 are much better than 2016's candidates and are actually qualified for the position. I think they are more moderate in sides and are focusing on issues rather than parties, which is good because they will likely think about what is good for the country and the people of the country and the future generations instead of their next paycheck as they should.
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure if Bloomberg will be able to earn the nomination. Bernie Sanders seems to be the most popular. I definitely think that because he entered at a later time, he might be at a slight disadvantage, just because some of the voters might have already found their "ideal" candidate. I believe that Bloomberg should be able to use as much money as he wants, I believe he is a self made billionaire but sometimes spending all this money could be detrimental to a candidate. All the democratic candidates are very different, and in my opinion, I believe that Buttigieg is the most moderate out of all of them. Now, some of them definitely lean more left than others, as Bernie Sanders describes himself as a democratic socialist. For the Republican side, I definitely think that Trump would want to keep the U.S as it is right now since the economy is doing so well, and he would not really want to change anything. I believe everyone is qualified to be the president, just some are more extreme than others, and people don't see them as their ideal president. As for the upcoming 2020 election, last year Hillary did not win because I believe there were a few swing states that were supposed to go left but actually went right, even though she won the popular vote. I'm very interested in what this year has to offer for politics.
ReplyDeleteI'm not completely sure that Bloomberg will be able to receive the democratic nomination. Although he's had good results in his campaign so far, I don't think it will be enough, with all the other well qualified candidates. I do think that candidates should be able to spend an unlimited amount of money for their campaign, as long as the election is still based on who people think have the best qualities for their president rather than who has a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteI think bloomberg poses as real competition to the other democratic candidates. He would receive the more moderate democrats & republicans votes who are sick of Trump but don't want someone too far left. Even though he is late to the game, he has a base and could easily steal biden's supporters. Bernie Sanders is the strongest candidate and seems to be the one who will win the primaries. His base has crazy strong support and stays loyal to his campaign for presidency.
ReplyDeleteBloomberg has a solid chance of being the democratic nominee. I personally believe that the democratic party has gone a bit too far left and needs a more moderate candidate. However I doubt that he would win the presidential race against whoever ends up being the Republican candidate, most likely Trump just due to how much he's been in the media in recent years. One thing I think is a real issue, however, is how expensive running for president has been; historically and in modern times, most presidents have been wealthy and successful. While this makes sense, I do think that the bar has been raised too high, as it is becoming increasingly difficult for anyone who isn't a millionaire to run for presidency. It would be hard to compete against someone who can spend hundreds of millions on advertising.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of campaign financing is an interesting one. Campaigns should definitely be allowed unlimited spending of donations, as people showing support for the campaign shouldn't be restricted so that candidates can have momentum. But if it's their own money, that's an interesting topic. While this spending has no limit, it puts wealthier candidates at an advantage, taking some of the equal opportunity out of the race. I think restricting the amount of personal money would restrict candidates like Bloomberg too much, but strategically restricting where it can be spent is an interesting concept (for example, personal money can only be spent on campaign payroll and advertising). As it is, Bloomberg's got a shot at the nomination, but he has to play his cards well to get past the other Democrats.
ReplyDeleteI think Bloomberg's late entry to the race says a lot about how his presidency would be say he was elected. And all of those that watched the debate the other night know that he was heavily clowned on. Things are not looking very good for him, and his advertising that I've seen so far is just cringeworthy. Has anyone seen the sponsored meme that the instagram account @f***jerry posted? It is awful. That is the opposite way to attract the youth. There are also more serious allegations of sexual assault being thrown at him by multiple women, which may not matter considering what happened to Trump. And, during a time where climate change and the environment is at it's worse, Bloomberg owns multiple private jets and likely is not doing much to reduce his footprint (I got this from business insider). I do not believe he will be popular enough to succeed.
ReplyDeleteI think that campaign funding should remain open to the candidate to choose how much they want to spend on advertising their campaigns and candidacies. However, I do recognize the advantage that certain wealthier candidates may have in being able to support a much more broad campaign and control their media outlet more so than other candidates. I believe that Bloomberg has a chance in the race as he is rapidly gaining popularity in the national polls and is promising a large amount of reforms and changes in his campaign. This large variety of improvements and changes he hopes to make may boost his popularity and support, or be seen as very distant and as far fetched goals. Overall, I do not know if he can victor and receive the democratic nomination but do think that at the moment with his growing campaign he might be able to succeed in the coming polls.
ReplyDeleteI think they should be able to spend as much money as they like since I don't see any big downsides to letting them spend money. It'll be a little risk they can take since the money may not be worth it if they loose the election. Bloomberg needed to use lots of money in order to become prevalent since he entered so late. For the most part, democratic candidates won't really need to use money like Bloomberg who needed to put his name out there fast. He definitely stands a chance but after the democratic debate as summarized by this article (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/02/19/nevada-democratic-debate-mike-bloomberg-targeted-and-other-top-moments/4798144002/) it'll be hard for him to win because of his past flaws.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Bloomberg has a good chance of winning the Primary. I have actually gotten a letter from him in the mail explaining what he will do in office. Even through his late entry, Bloomberg has a strong backing. People should be allowed to spend any amount of money to campaign for their election. Since this is the case, it means that people running who have less money or backers will not be seen or noticed by the voters. Most of all Presidents have been pretty rich or at least a strong backing in order to sway voters.
ReplyDeleteI think that although constantly bombarding the public with your message can be effective, it isn't in Bloomberg's case. It's just annoying. In response to question 2 I think that the amount of advertising he's done is laughable. I feel like I see one of his ads before basically every Youtube video I watch, and they have done little to cause me to take him seriously. The sheer amount of money he has spent on "spreading his message" is absurd. How is splurging 386 million on what is widely considered to be the most frivolous aspect of a campaign going to appeal to the hard working middle class, making up roughly 52% of all Americans? Although most presidential candidates have had a substantial amount of wealth, this kind of display has made Bloomberg, at least in my eyes, seem unfit for presidency. But who knows, given the tendencies of the republican party and the similarities between Bloomberg and Trump, it is possible that he could still go far in the election.
ReplyDeleteI think that bloomberg definitely stands a chance in the nomination for the democrats. The money he has put into this effort and the exposure he is getting from his advertisements match along with his rise in popularity despite him being later in the race. The competition for the presidency is very close this election and swings between many candidates.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Bloomberg should be allowed to spend as much as he wants in his campaign. It is clearly having a good effect on the polls as he is rising up the ranks. Bloomberg is a billionaire and is the owner of his own money. Everyone has a different approach to gaining popularity whether it is powerful speaking, putting the needs of the people first or advertising how they plan to do this. I have seen these Bloomberg ads and they use human emotion to sway you in favor of voting for him. There is a reason why this works and how it is so persuasive.
ReplyDeleteWhile I believe that Bloomberg has the right to spend as much as he wants on the campaign as he sees fit, I also think that the amount of money he spends doesn't necessarily mean that he is a strong candidate. I think that the Sander's campaign will come out to be one of the stronger ones, and that Bloomberg will also become a strong democratic candidate.
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