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Michael Bloomberg is pounding the Texas airwaves with provocative television ads and has unleashed a behemoth field operation that features 175 paid staffers working out of 19 offices.
The billionaire is self-funding his effort and, so far, it’s netted results. He’s catapulted to near the top of the polls, placing third in a Texas survey by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler. He is also third, behind Sanders and Biden, in a new Quinnipiac national poll.
In what’s been an unpredictable contest, Bloomberg is staging an experiment that could not only change presidential politics, but make him a serious contender for the Democratic Party’s nomination.
After a late entry into the race, he’s eschewed participating in the early contest states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. But even there his presence is felt. Just past midnight Tuesday he got three write-in votes — two Democratic and one Republican — in the tiny Dixville Notch, N.H.
His Texas support is growing. Hundreds of people on Saturday attended the official opening of his Knox-Henderson office, highlighted by state Rep. Julie Johnson’s declaration that she’s tired of going with the “safe choice.”
Bloomberg has spent at least $24 million on Texas television ads, and he’s expected to spend more.
“He’s the best person with the best record to challenge Donald Trump and win,” said Johnson, an Irving Democrat.
She added that she was impressed with the investment Bloomberg is making in Texas and that he would help down-ballot candidates, including Democrats in critical Texas House races. Bloomberg has promised to leave his campaign operations in place even if he doesn’t win the nomination.
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Bloomberg’s Super Tuesday strategy is raising eyebrows.
On Thursday, Bloomberg is scheduled to speak at the Harris County Democrats’ annual fundraising dinner, and then he’ll head to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum to launch his “Mike for Black America” campaign initiative. There he’s expected to garner key endorsements.
Even his rivals are taking notice.
“He took a big risk in skipping the first four states, but he’s looking like a genius for doing it,” said Ed Espinoza, the executive director of a group called Progress Texas and a supporter of Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. “If he can go big in Texas and effectively make his case, that could alter the presidential race.”
Espinoza said Bloomberg’s television ads have overshadowed the field operations of most of his rivals.
“The fact that it seems like he’s all alone in Texas is saying something,” he said.
But a supporter of Joe Biden says the former vice president is still in good shape.
Biden has been endorsed by U.S. Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Colin Allred and Marc Veasey, all representing North Texas. He’s been backed by more Texas leaders than any candidate.
The News’ poll shows Biden with a sizable lead over Sanders (35% to 18%), and Bloomberg had 15%. The poll was conducted Jan. 21-30. Since then, Sanders has been building momentum with popular-vote victories in the Iowa caucuses last week and in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
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“The numbers are showing he has significant support in Texas and is one of our best candidates to beat Donald Trump,” said state Rep. Victoria Neave, who endorsed Biden last year. “Texas is going to be a significant voice on determining who the Democratic nominee is.”
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Nomination path not easy
Bloomberg’s path to the nomination could get rocky.
In an arena where progressives have an increasingly greater voice, there may be some voters turned off by the millions he’s pouring into the political process. And in 2004 he supported George W. Bush for president. He’s toyed with running for the White House as an independent.
More damaging is his embrace of the controversial stop-and-frisk program when he was New York mayor.
This week, a years-old audio clip surfaced and spread on social media containing what appears to be Bloomberg discussing the “stop-and-frisk” policing tactic.
As the audio clip spread, President Donald Trump tweeted: “WOW, BLOOMBERG IS A TOTAL RACIST!”
Trump, who has supported stop-and-frisk being implemented nationwide, later deleted the tweet and issued another mocking Bloomberg’s height, which has become a common refrain for him.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg responded to the controversy.
“I inherited the police practice of stop-and-frisk, and as part of our effort to stop gun violence it was overused. By the time I left office, I cut it back by 95%, but I should’ve done it faster and sooner,” Bloomberg said Tuesday in a statement. “I regret that, and I have apologized — and I have taken responsibility for taking too long to understand the impact it had on Black and Latino communities.”
He added that “we need to end mass incarceration, and during my tenure, we reduced incarceration by 40% and juvenile confinement by more than 60%.”
“We created the Young Men’s Initiative to help young men of color stay on track for success, which President Obama built on to create My Brother’s Keeper,” he said. “And we overhauled a school system that had been neglecting and underfunding schools in Black and Latino communities for too long.”
Another billionaire candidate, Tom Steyer, criticized Bloomberg after the release of the recording.
“The racist stereotypes he uses have no place today, and anyone running for the presidential nomination should disavow them. We have a racist president in Donald Trump, and we must rise above that to unite our country. Mike needs to offer an explanation to voters, especially those in communities of color, who were victimized by ‘stop and frisk’ and continue to be victimized by racist policing tactics.”
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Electability is key
But the controversy over stop-and-frisk could be washed away by one issue. Democrats are looking for someone with the resources and grit to beat Trump.
Biden led the field until his disappointing showing in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary because he projected that he could be a champion against Trump.
Bloomberg also is making that case, but he is backed by far more resources and a more energetic campaign. For some, he’s projecting as a better match-up against Trump, albeit billionaire against billionaire.
“He’s speaking to the terror that is animating this primary: the prospect of another four years of Trump,” said political consultant Jason Stanford. “He has the right message at the right time.”
Bloomberg’s campaign is a test on whether a candidate can sit out the early contest states and focus on the delegate-rich elections that come later.
Unlike others who tried such a tactic, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who in 2008 skipped Iowa and New Hampshire to focus on Florida, Bloomberg has more traction.
“There’s been this sort of thought out there that this is a rich guy buying an election. But the reality is you can buy exposure,” said Tim O’Brien, senior adviser to Bloomberg’s campaign. “The reason that Mike is vaulted into third or fourth place in this race is because voters are seeing who he is and what his story is about. And so our strategy, nationally, is to continue to put Mike in front of the voters to continue to tell voters his story.”
In Texas, Bloomberg is fighting hard in areas like El Paso, typically ignored by presidential contenders. His offices are in nearly every part of the state.
As Biden falters, Bloomberg’s message gets stronger.
“Democrats as a whole want to get rid of Donald Trump, and they think there’s a five-alarm fire in the White House,” O’Brien said. “There’s actually a 10-alarm fire in the White House. …There’s a lot of swing voters who are looking for a home. And until Mike Bloomberg got in the race. I think that broad population of people didn’t have a candidate they could land on, and now they can, and I think he’s somebody who can unite the pragmatic progressives in the party, independents and entrepreneurs.”
Trump has attacked Bloomberg several times since he got into the race, dubbing him mini Mike.
O’Brien says that’s proof the president is rattled.
“Trump is well aware that if he stands toe to toe with Mike, he loses out,” O’Brien said. “His only argument thus far against Mike is making fun of Mike’s height and calling him Mini Mike. He also knows that Mike stands on a stack of accomplishments that makes him stand about 10 feet taller than Trump, and he’s worried.”