Can Bloomberg buy the election?

Yes, of course.

I don't think Americans really care where the damn money comes from. The want a genius billionaire businessman who's going to 'fix' the country. They voted for Trump with high hopes and he didn't deliver things that improved their lives.

Any candidate who can persuasively convince voters that they can deliver what Trump failed to do- can win.

I hope so, at least if Trump would win otherwise!

I'm thinking charisma counts, and Bloomberg doesn't have any. I'd say his record looks bad (and the things he's done and said), but I honestly don't think middle-of-the-road voters will care, nor should they, really. He has a lot of explaining to do to blacks.

At this point people want competence and someone who is not a “carnival barking clown” as a strong antidote to the madness that tRump has inflicted on the public.

But are those people a majority, R5? There's also the electoral college to contend with.

[quote]Can Bloomberg buy the election?

Is this like one of those internet things where I have to send him my bank account and social security numbers?

That we're unsure shows that the answer is no.

But BB has to buy the US election from the FSB in Moscow though. How ironic.

For better or worse, it appears his ad blitz in Texas is working. Mayor Sylvester Turner of Houston - who is African-American - endorsed him several days ago. Turner said his endorsement was because he saw a sincere change in Bloomberg's views since the days of "stop and frisk."

Buying the election may be the only way to win it. If it beats Trump, I'm in.

Yes. I get calls from his campaign all the time. Nary a peep from anyone else, with the exception of Bernie.

Anyone/Anything But Trump 2020.

I wouldn’t call it buying the election. How is using his own money different from begging donors for contributions? Trump actually promised, for 5 minutes, that he wouldn’t be beholden to lobbyists because he was so rich and wouldn’t take their money. People like that, then. But it’s Bloomberg that is actually doing it.

I like that Bloomberg actually seems capable of being President, unlike Trump. I can envision him managing multiple major issues all at the same time. Sizing-up Kim of Korea; managing the healthcare crisis of a flu disaster; and keeping Putin out of the Baltics, all at once. I still can’t imagine Trump understanding any of this.

Bloomberg > Trump so I certainly hope so. No one sane wants Bernie and Biden is not viable to all voters.

In normal times, he shouldn't be able to. But now, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Of course he can. Joe Kennedy brought the election for his son JFK back in the day. So yes, it absolutely can be brought.

Bloomberg used his money to become mayor of NYC and by most accounts did a good job and didn’t use his power to further enrich himself. That says to me that he’ll do the same as president. He and Stacey Abrams would be a formidable ticket...

Stacey Abrams should try winning an election in her home state first.

No. He doesn't have the necessary Russian and Saudi backing.

I have mixed feelings about him but think he would probably be our best hope against Trump. And yes, as someone else says, he does have a lot of explaining to do to black voters if he is to expect their support.

With his billions being spent on the campaign, social media is going to be a nightmare beyond belief during the election season. He’s spending the money to send commenters to every nook and cranny on the internet. We’ve already seen the first wave on DL. Batten down the hatches, it’s going to be bad, very bad.

He is doing it.

Shouldn’t we be applauding him for spending his own money to get rid of Trump rather than screaming about bought elections? BTW every candidate buys them in some way, most with other’s money.

He’s not buying the election, he’s just getting his message out. It’s up to the populace whether they buy his message or not...

Will Black voters be more forgiving of stop and frisk apologies after they sit out this election and tanks are rolling down their streets due to Trump's re-election?

Buying the election would be if he actually paid people to vote for him. He is buying name recognition, something Biden and Bernie already had, so what he is doing is catching up to some of the others and bypassing those who haven't been able to get the name recognition that Bloomberg can buy.

Unfair, maybe, but everyone should have realized that the world isn't a fair place by now.

Define “buy the election”. If you mean pay-off local political bosses to stuff ballot boxes, which is what is implied, no. He won’t do that. If you mean spend his own money to pay for ads and other political advocacy, yes, he will do that, and he should. I’m all for it.

The people in charge of the DNC do not want Sanders to be the nominee. Oligarchs like Zuckerman, Soros and Gates prefer Bloomberg over both Trump or Sanders. Yes, Bloomberg has enough money to finance hiss own presidential run, but there are many ultra wealthy people who are sick of Trump's incompetence and buffoonery and terrified of Sanders, and they are coming out of the woodwork. That the fix is in should be obvious after the DNC massaged rules to accommodate him.

[quote] Define “buy the election”. If you mean pay-off local political bosses to stuff ballot boxes, which is what is implied, no. He won’t do that. If you mean spend his own money to pay for ads and other political advocacy, yes, he will do that, and he should. I’m all for it.

For the record, I'm OK with him cheating and engaging in corruption to remove Trump. Bloomberg and Trump are by no means equivalent evils. Trump is far worse and must be eliminated.

People are forgetting that Berno has the state of Russia and Saudi Arabia behind him.

FUCK New York! You assholes keep give us these shitheads running for president. You stupid cunts are giving us your very worst and will probably cost us ANOTHER election!

I just want that Big Ass Orange Devil out of the white house.

[quote]I like that Bloomberg actually seems capable of being President

He doesn’t.

I’m back to liking Bernie again. I think I went through a paranoid phase but he is what this country needs. A shake up from the top down.

That being said, I would vote for COVID-19 for president over Plump.

[quote] FUCK New York! You assholes keep give us these shitheads running for president. You stupid cunts are giving us your very worst and will probably cost us ANOTHER election!

R33 is a BernieBro who doesn't realize that Bernie is originally from New York.

Everybody should be offended by what Bloomberg is attempting to accomplish. And it should be outlawed.

Why is everyone offended at what Bloomberg is doing but they yawn at what Tom Steyer is doing? Because Bloomberg is doing it better? I would rather have someone pay their own way than hitting up other billionaires to fund their campaign.

I didn't think his late entry strategy would work, but the costly deluge of commercials seems to very effective--for now.

The well-heeled, when financing other's campaigns, have some limits to how much they can contribute. This means that, while politicians are bought by the wealthy in general, they're not bought by just one or two billionaires. Those politicians might actually accomplish something for the benefit of average Americans since the wealthy aren't some monolith who agree on every policy position.

Just one or two billionaires buying an election means those one or two billionaires own this country. If Bloomberg buys this election, he will own this country, and, once that precedent has been established, he will do NOTHING for the benefit of average Americans since he knows our votes don't matter.

If Bloomberg buys this election, we will never again have a president who's not a billionaire.

Fuck Bloomberg, and anyone who supports him.

[quote] If Bloomberg buys this election, he will own this country. . . . If Bloomberg buys this election, we will never again have a president who's not a billionaire.

It is difficult to take seriously such hair-in-fire, over-the-top hyperbole. No one is going to “own this country.”

Who are you quoting, R42? You almost identically quote R41, but he never said "he will own this country." Where are you quoting? Otherwise, you're making things up.

R43, you should go back and read R41 much more carefully before you start accusing people of “making things up.” (You actually wrote that.)

[quote] Just one or two billionaires buying an election means those one or two billionaires own this country. [bold] If Bloomberg buys this election, he will own this country, [/bold] and, once that precedent has been established, he will do NOTHING for the benefit of average Americans since he knows our votes don't matter.

🙄

Right, R44--sorry, it was the repetitive use of "If Bloomberg buys this election..." And yes, I know I actually wrote that, darling.

To the point of the matter, I would have to agree with R42 that it's a bit pearl clutching to assume ne man will own the country. But I do think it could be a conglomerate of oligarchs.

*to assume one man

R14, the problem I think is that in doing it this way he also is bypassing people vetting him properly. Sure he's not taking money, but if rank and file every day citizens are not interested enough in you to contribute then what kind of public consensus do you have?

He is not earning public interest or support. He is buying it. Picking and choosing where to get into the process. A luxury only he has as a billionaire, that's buying. Someone with similar ideas, who was younger with more charisma couldn't wake up tomorrow and decide they wanted to run for president.

[quote]Someone with similar ideas, who was younger with more charisma couldn't wake up tomorrow and decide they wanted to run for president.

Pete did.

If he had that much racism in his background- wtf did he run for POTUS?

If he wants to waste money, he can send me $50,000 dollars.

He might not be 'buying the election' but he is buying around the process, that has eliminated other candidates to this point. Are his ideas any better than some of the candidates that were forced to drop-out because they didn't have the money? And they didn't have the money because they were required to get people interested in them and what they had to say enough to be willing to donate.

He is everywhere because he can afford to blitz the media, but who is really interested in Bloomberg? And why is in the race now instead of months ago. It's not like he couldn't have afforded to have started earlier?

His buying around the process is a problem, especially when the money could be used to defeat Trump and flip the Senate by contributing to candidates down ticket while still putting out ads attacking DJT. It is not necessary for Bloomberg to be president, but it is necessary for Trump not to be.

"If he had that much racism in his background- wtf did he run for POTUS?"

Why don't you ask Trump? And while you're at it, why don't you ask him...

If he had that much misogyny in his background- wtf did he run for POTUS?

If he had that much sexual harassment in his background- wtf did he run for POTUS?

If he had that much bankruptcy in his background- wtf did he run for POTUS?

If he had that much of a connection to Putin in his background- wtf did he run for POTUS?

etc., etc.

Dump never thought to ask why--he just did it. So why not Bloomberg?

R48, no. Pete had to get in like everyone else early and slug it out for his place in the race. He caught more lightining.

As the Mayor or former Mayor of South Bend he wouldn't have been able to just step into the race post Iowa or just decide not to do a bunch of caucuses or primaries, until super Tuesday. He had to actually go out and get people interested, and increase his name recognition enough to support the candidacy and give him money. He might have a pretty good warchest now, but he didn't in the beginning.

So many need to bow out at this point.

R39, Steyer has faced a ton of criticism too. But he's never been pushed as a front runner and hasn't spent nearly as much as Bloomberg has.

R53, what does that have to do with this thread?

Steyer will could never be president - it is strictly a vanity campaign. A fool and his money are soon parted. Bloomberg could be the nominee but it is revolting he is buying his nomination.