Monday, February 17, 2020

Buying the Democratic Party presidential nomination, redux


Last week I asked, "Can Bloomberg buy the US presidency?"  In a series of tweets a few days later, journalist Blake Zeff indicates that he can - and is already doing so.  Here's a short sample.

The degree to which Michael Bloomberg is using his fortune to fundamentally alter & manipulate U.S. politics to his personal advantage extends way beyond ads. I've worked against him, covered him as a journalist & worked with his top aides. Here’s their playbook:

Let’s start with endorsements. Background: Bloomberg was a GOP mayor & Rudy Giuliani ally, whose police stopped innocent black men so often his tactics were ruled unconstitutional. So how did he possibly get key Democratic endorsements in NYC?  Here’s one way . . .

In 2018, Mike spent $110 million to boost 24 candidates now in Congress. Turns out, giving people $2 million can be the start of a beautiful friendship. Then there are mayors: Want a grant from Bloomberg for new programs in your city...?

Forget endorsements: This campaign has grassroots support! Mike held events in various states recently & got huge crowds. They were clearly inspired by that “Mike Will Get It Done” energy. But *this* probably didn’t hurt, either...

There's more at the link.  It's worth your time to read through the whole thread, and the comments afterwards.

This has potentially very negative implications for US politics as a whole.  If Bloomberg wins the Presidency on the basis of how much he's worth and how much he's spent, then future elections are likely to be dominated by precisely the same tactics.  It'll be the Roman Empire's "bread and circuses" dilemma all over again - and we all know what happened to the Roman Empire in the end.  That's not a happy thought for the USA today . . .

Earthbound Misfit, a blogger we've met in these pages before, and who's far more liberal and left-wing in her politics than I or most of my readers, had this to say:

Here is my question for Democrats: How can you have spent the past ten years decrying the effect of Citizens United on American politics and then queue up to take his money and tailor your advocacy to suit his priorities? How can you have denounced the millions of dollars spent by Sheldon Adleman and the Koch Brotehrs and then take Bloomberg's cash?

Democrats, if you have spent the last three years denouncing the plutocratic and inept authoritarianism of Trump, how can you look in a mirror and justify supporting another plutocrat with authoritarian tendencies, only one who is ten (or a thousand) times as rich as Trump and who also is at least twice as intelligent?

I have been a Democrat for a very long time, but I will have no truck with a party that sells its soul to a plutocrat.

There is a theory of child-rearing that holds that you don't tell a toddler to wear a hat; you ask the toddler whether he wants to wear a yellow hat or a green hat. The kid's happy because he got to choose, but the choice is a choice at the level of insignificance. The kid's going to wear a hat.

The choice between between the Party of Trump and the Party of Bloomberg is an illusionary one. It'd be like having to choose between being ruled by Hitler or Stalin.

I can only agree with the overall thrust of her argument, even though I disagree on certain details.  I recommend reading her article in full, particularly her link to a New York Times article that exposes how Bloomberg has used his wealth to stifle criticism and negative commentary.

Peter

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Comrade Misfit is someone worth listening to on the other side.

Rob said...

The choice between a republican & a democrat is an illusionary one too. When Obama took over (and they controlled both the House & the Senate) nothing big changed. Everyone points at Obamacare but we were #1 in cost & #47 in quality before Obamacare AND were the same after. Did financing the two wars on the Asian land mass change? No, it was still done with borrowed money.
Follow the money.

Can Bloomberg buy the election? If his message is half way acceptable he can!

The "stop and frisk" controversy's big question should be "did it work"? Did they get illegal guns off the street? Did shootings go down? Did other armed crime go down?
Was it legal is a silly question when we live in a land where law enforcement is allowed to take any cash someone has & keep it until the victim can get a lawyer and successfully sue for it.

If this next election is between Trump & Bloomberg then we (America) will be well on the road to being governed by the billionaires!

Beans said...

Meanwhile President Trump draws 100,000 or more to his rallies in notoriously democratic stronghold states and cities. And 25-30% of attendees are democratic voters.

Trump paved the way with using private money. But at least Trump isn't an evil twisted jerk.

It still boggles my mind that people of the left think Trump is an idiot or a moron, only using daddy's money to get rich by extortion.

Robin Datta said...

Britain had Benjamin Disraeli. Some suspect that Abraham Lincoln was one too, just undeclared. Is the United States ready for an overt Jewish president?

Arthur said...

Why?

How many pedophiles do you consider friends?

If you could throw in with a political party pushing the evil that the dems are outright championing, why would I have any truck with you?

If someone were to denounce the very platform the dems are running on, why would they still consider themselves democrat?