Mike Bloomberg may be able to buy the presidency. And, Robert Reich writes, that possibility should really bother Americans:
Bloomberg has a chance of winning the presidency because his net worth is more than $60bn.
The yearly return on $60bn is at least $2bn – which is what Bloomberg says he’ll pour into buying the highest office in the land. It’s hardly a sacrifice for him, but it’s a huge sacrifice for American democracy.
Encouraged by the murky outcome from the Iowa caucuses and the notable lack of enthusiasm for Joe Biden, Bloomberg has decided to double his spending on TV commercials in every market where he is currently advertising, and expand his campaign field staff to more than 2,000.
He’s not competing in the first four states with caucuses and primaries but focusing instead on 3 March. So-called Super Tuesday will be more super than ever because it now includes California, Texas, Virginia, Minnesota, North Carolina and Massachusetts – a third of all delegates to the Democratic convention.
It’s much more efficient to go to the big states, to go to the swing states,” Bloomberg told the New York Times. “The others chose to compete in the first four. And nobody makes them do it, they wanted to do it. I think part of it is because the conventional wisdom is, ‘Oh you can’t possibly win without them.’”
Later, he added: “Those are old rules.”
That's precisely the point. These days, it's not about the best legislature. It's about the best legislature that money can buy.
Image: Amazon.com
8 comments:
While buying public office is a repugnant concept, Owen, I do recall that when Bloomberg was mayor of NYC, he had some pretty impressive and progressive policies. As well, I read a book by him and Carl Pope called Climate of Hope, which included some of the climate-change mitigation efforts he enacted as the city's chief magistrate.
In some ways, he is the anti-Trump candidate, at least in philosophy and intellect.
If I were in the United States and Bloomberg were the Democratic nominee, I'd vote for him, Lorne. Not just because he's the anti Trump, but because he's smart and knows how to make government work.
However, I'm bothered by the thought that money makes such a difference in a so called democracy.
With the state of democracy under Trump, it hardly seems that Reich's commentary concerning Bloomberg running for Dem prez nominee, that it's a sacrifice for democracy, is very plausible. Reich's a good feller, but out-of-date and pining for the good old days when men were gentlemen or something. It's well past the time for gentlemen to emerge from academia or business and beat the loutish Trump merely by force of argument. It takes money. Bloomberg's got a lot.
If he doesn't get the nomination, let's hope he stays the course and supports someone progressive to win against the Dem/Hillary establishment currently keen to character assassinate Sanders.
BM
We've got enough of it here. In America there is far too much money being made in the election business, and too many people making it, to hope that the system will ever change.
Judging from last nights's results in New Hampshire, BM, I suspect that the Democratic establishment is about to be shaken to its core.
That's what's so deeply depressing, John. Big Money means Big Business in politics.
Billionaires have big egos. First they wanted the biggest houses, fasted horses and cars, some the youngest wives. Then they started purchasing sports teams as an extension of their egos. Trump decided he wanted to be "king of the world". Other billionaires seeing that, most likely thought, why not me and now we have the billionaire's race to the white house.
The Democrats will most likely loose this election because as in the last one, they were too divided. Bernie's Bros are up to their usual attacks and threats of any one who opposed them or Bernie. They're just another version of Trump when it comes to bullying.
As one guest on Rachel Maddox's show this evening explained, a democracy and rule of law is based on trust. Once that has been broken the economy, which is also based on trust, will be the next to go.
I expect the U.S.A. will look like it did in the 1920/30s and it wasn't great, with a rather low standard of living, low life expectancy, the usual you find in a third world country. Mexico will start looking good to many Americans.
The United States is in a perilous place, e.a.f. And all kinds of Americans seem to be unaware of that fact.
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