In a development that is already causing some on the Left to hit the panic button, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was a Republican before he was a Democrat, has officially thrown his hat in the ring for the Democratic presidential nomination — and he has immediately made a splash in the polls, overtaking almost all of the other Democratic candidates. While most believe he has no shot of winning either the primary or the election, some are worried that the moderate billionaire’s presence in the primary will help get Donald Trump re-elected.
A new Hill-HarrisX poll released Monday found that Bloomberg comes into the Democrats’ 2020 primary race ahead of all but four of the other candidates.
With 6% of the Democratic vote, Bloomberg further buries struggling California Sen. Kamala Harris, who sits at just 2% with Bloomberg in the picture, as well as entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Julian Castro, and Tom Steyer, all of whom likewise manage just 2%.
The Hill/HarrisX poll found former Vice President Joe Biden maintaining a healthy lead over the other contenders with 31% support. Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sits in second with 15%, less than half of the support Biden is drawing, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who briefly enjoyed the Democratic frontrunner status, is down another five points from mid-November to just 10%.
The only other candidate to beat out Bloomberg is South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), who has gained two points in the poll since a few weeks ago and now sits at 9%, just a point below Warren. All the other Democratic candidates manage just 1% or less.
The survey comes as two candidates recently dropped out — former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) — while billionaire Tom Steyer jumped in.
Bloomberg’s entrance into the race has some on the Left worried about the larger implications. While he’s not widely consider a true contender, his status, economic resources, and more moderate political positions could end up impacting the race in negative ways for those wanting to see Trump do down.
In an op-ed for The Hill published Sunday, Paul Bledsoe explains why Bloomberg, while unable to win, “could help reelect Trump.”
“For most Democrats, rightly fixated on beating Donald Trump, Michael Bloomberg’s campaign for President is about the last thing they need,” writes Bledsoe. “The bitter irony is that Bloomberg, a mega-billionaire, lifelong Republican, and New York conservative, has no chance of actually winning this year’s populist-leaning Democratic nomination himself. But his candidacy holds a host of dangers for Democrats and could complicate their efforts to defeat Trump.”
Bloomberg’s presence in the Democratic primary “risks further dividing Democrats over issues of extreme wealth and economic fairness, emboldening far left candidates like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and their supporters who see Bloomberg as the embodiment of the problem,” Bledsoe suggests. “In fact, Bloomberg’s money-fueled campaign seems to mirror or even legitimize Trump’s political approach of 2016.”
Most “dangerous” for Democrats, Bledsoe argues, is Bloomberg’s potential to wage a “massive TV ad” campaign that may allow him to “purchase just enough support in the huge Super Tuesday and other now early mega-primaries to prevent the Democrats from giving any single candidate a majority of delegates.”
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