Sunday, February 2, 2020

Quickies: Why Bloomberg?

     The sudden warm embrace of Michael Bloomberg by the Democrat National Committee is unsurprising – but not because they think they finally have a candidate who can beat President Trump.

     Bloomberg is a very rich man. His personal assets have been estimated at about $45 billion, which is a lot of money even in counterfeit bills. Money isn’t directly convertible to votes or proportional political influence, but it does have a substantial role in the politics of state and federal elections. Thus I can easily imagine a discussion between Bloomberg and the DNC that ran like this:

DNC: How much are you willing to commit to the purposes we specify?
Bloomberg: How much do you need?
DNC: To cover 2020 Congressional and Senatorial campaign needs, about $5 billion.
Bloomberg: And what would I get for that?
DNC: A guaranteed place in the candidates’ debates, good until the Convention chooses a nominee.
Bloomberg: And afterward?
DNC: That would largely be up to you. Get yourself through the primary system without embarrassing yourself, and you’d have a good chance to make it a “brokered convention.” The superdelegates don’t get to vote unless no one wins on the first nominating ballot. But should no one get a clear majority on the first ballot...get the idea?
Bloomberg: Hm. I’d have to do some research to determine their prices.
DNC: We can help with that. And remember, if you get the nomination, you’re legally allowed to spend as much of your own money on your candidacy as you please.
Bloomberg: I like it. Shake on it?

     How plausible does it sound to you?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello I’m an old friend of Fran from back in the 80’s. I was Nassau County Libertarian chairman, Do you have a working email ?
You can catch me on FB or jeric17@msn.com
Thanks

Mike Guenther said...

Too bad Yang or Booker weren't billionaires. It's not funny, queer, but funny, ha ha that Tom Perez, head of the DNC, told Booker after he complained about not making the last debate, that they had lowered the standards to be on the debate stage and he still couldn't Garner the minimal support needed to make it.