Many have already noted that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined the democratic “cast of clowns” last Friday when he qualified for the primary ballot in predominantly red state Alabama. While there were rumblings that Bloomberg might join the race, entering as late as possible was unusual and a bit of a surprise for a top tier candidate. Alabama has the earliest deadline of all states.
From my conservative constitutional perspective, and as evidenced in the articles listed below, Bloomberg is not a viable candidate for president in the general election. But of course none of the democrats are. It is nonetheless an interesting study in the contrasts of the democratic candidates in terms of policy and personality. I really couldn’t bring myself to watch any of democratic debates so far, and note bemusedly that some others were twittering the same sentiment as they declared mid-way through the last debate they were changing the channel.
I do follow the top contenders on Twitter and their incessant whining about issues they consider important is always truncated by the fact that they set forth no earth bound plan for reaching their unrealistic goals. They are utterly ridiculous. Which actually is roughly akin to statements made by Bloomberg about the oversized democratic field.
Usually, fielding such a large slate of candidates is intended to involve as many of the rank and file as possible by offering variations of platform, and more importantly, different personalities. I think the excessive attempt to draw media attention has actually backfired as none of the candidates stand out in terms of policy, and their personalities are all, well – mushy.
Bennie Sanders does have some degree of charisma, but his campaign promises coming true are about as likely as a spaceship from mars landing on earth before election day. Promising everything is not a new trick but surely most democrats know, however well-intentioned, Bernie Sanders’s platform is delusional. Elizabeth Warren does try to make more realistic promises but she comes off like a den mother who’s worried about offending somebodies mom and dad.
Some polls indicate Warren has actually gained against Joe Biden. And no wonder, Biden makes promises that come from earth, but when it comes to mushy, he comes off like a tub of cool-whip. Or maybe a box of crackers. He’s blanched. Where’s the entree?
Joe did himself no good either when his excuse for not running in the last election was the untimely death of his son Beau. Beau’s death from cancer was terrible and Joe deserved time to mourn and process the grief. Not running at all, however, was like one of the kid’s in Warren’s den meeting getting their feelings hurt. Does anyone really want a president who is incapacitated by a death in the family taking on the Russians? Yeah, it’s tough, but we’re talking about the preeminent leader of the free world.
And so, enter Bloomberg. An astute call on his part as it may turnout. Bloomberg has charisma and his platform is not unrealistic. He’s sharp and business like with an appealing sense of decorum. But, he’s much too liberal and doesn’t really seem to believe in the constitution. So, he’s perfect to upstage the other “what’s their name” candidates.
There are caveats. Bloomberg’s money makes Donald Trump’s riches look like pocket change, he’s a man, and he’s totally white. Which is to insinuate that I don’t think his rhetoric supports the idea that he’s really sensitive or in touch with the poor working class, much less African American voters. Case in point: unconstitutional stop and frisk while he was mayor of New York.
When it’s all said and done, Michael Bloomberg might be a better candidate to loose the election to Donald Trump than even “sleepy” Joe Biden.
A Disclaimer
The fact is, I’m not offering an endorsement at this time. I can say that the democrats are unlikely at best to get my endorsement, and while I mostly support President Trump’s foreign policy, including the wall, much of his domestic policy is too rigid. Thus, I generally identify as independent (with a small “i”). Which is actually to say that I do not intend for the Bloomberg Report tweets on the TOCC.tv MONEY page to be construed as an endorsement for Mr. Bloomberg’s candidacy. The report is generally a good source of financial and economic information, however, it will be removed from the MONEY page shortly… probably before you read this column.
©2019 – Jim Casey
