It’s time for Mike Bloomberg to drop out of the presidential race. He stated that his reason for joining the contest was to prevent a Sanders nomination that could lead to devastating losses for Democrats in November. Now, Bloomberg is more likely to cause that scenario than to prevent it.
In January, Bloomberg assured Democrats that he was building an infrastructure that he would leave in place to defeat Donald Trump. That’s a generous and strategically sound move. Staying in the race and playing spoiler is a selfish and strategically unsound option. He should announce this weekend, on the heels of Biden’s victory on Saturday in South Carolina, that he’s withdrawing from the race and urging his supporters to vote for Joe Biden on Super Tuesday.
Biden might not be the most inspiring candidate in the field but he’s certainly less divisive and polarizing than Bloomberg. The former Republican mayor of New York brings a host of #MeToo accusations as well as the controversial stop-and-frisk policy. He’s on record showing an affinity for the big banks that contributed to the Great Recession and then escaped accountability. Young people might not be enthused by Biden but they’ll come out to vote for him in November because they want to get rid of Trump. They won’t come out for Bloomberg because, rightly or wrongly, they believe he’s just as bad as the president.
In a year long primary, every candidate has ups and downs. Biden has survived all of them except for Bloomberg’s millions. As a former vice president and presidential candidate, he’s the best vetted candidate in the field. He’s got his quirks and his gaffes but Americans like him, even if some would prefer another nominee. Biden connects with voters on an emotional level and they believe he has their interests at heart. Bloomberg, on the other hand, is largely unvetted and the more he’s seen, the less he’s liked. He comes across as cold and calculating. If we’ve got to have a septuagenarian white guy leading the ticket, Biden is clearly the better one to take on Trump.
If Bloomberg is truly concerned about stopping Trump, he should drop out before Tuesday. He’s upended the vetting process and given the Sanders’ camp a legitimate foil. Without Bloomberg in the race, the Democratic primary would likely work itself out. An anti-Bernie candidate would emerge to challenge Sanders down the stretch. It would probably be Biden, but without Bloomberg’s interference, who knows what would have happened? He’s stealing votes from other candidates, but not enough to secure the nomination. He’s merely a spoiler. It’s time for him to go.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Based on the turn out this is going to be a close election. Biden puts the party closer to defeating Trump. Based on the 3/4/20 (super Tue) primary returns, Trump has lost even a frail popularity with urban voters, which traditionally turn out in larger numbers. We need as much as possible going for us to defeat Trump and restore order to the Federal Government.
Bloomberg’s presence is at best a distraction. We need to focus on removing Trump from office thereby restoring integrity (if that is possible) to the Federal Government. Moreover, I will feel better about paying taxes if I know the money is being used for defense and the common good, not improving the bottom line at a Trump resort.
Hard to understand your support for Biden. We need to win. He is short of both money and organization, and it’s hard to see much enthusiasm for him.
An honest voice in a tsunami of money.