https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/11/12/bloomberg_will_hit_an_iceberg
Michael Bloomberg is so wealthy he couldn’t fritter away his fortune, even if he tried. But he’ll make a good start if he spends $100 million or more to win the Democratic presidential nomination. It’s a fruitless quest.
He must be smart enough to know it. That’s why he is merely “exploring a run” and hasn’t jumped in yet. Still, the glittering prize of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. dazzles even the shrewdest eyes, and it may have dazzled Bloomberg’s.
Running would be a rare mistake in a career that led him to vast riches and the mayoralty of America’s largest city. (It’s no South Bend, but there are those who love it.) Bloomberg made his money by recognizing a lucrative gap in the market for economic information. To trade stocks, bonds, currencies, and commodities, market participants need real-time information, bundled with sophisticated software to make sense of it. Bloomberg saw the need, thought he could fill it better than anyone, and could charge steep fees to do it. He was right, and he executed his design perfectly. He is still tops in the field, still making a mint from it.
Now, Bloomberg sees another gap, this one in the Democratic presidential field, where no center-left candidate dominates. Both Joe Biden and Mayor Pete Buttigieg have obvious weaknesses and Amy Klobuchar has all but disappeared. Bloomberg is right in saying the whole field is weak, most candidates are too far left to win in November, and the center lane is not too crowded. He’s also right in saying that President Trump is vulnerable despite the strong economy. And he’s right in thinking that his age is no barrier. At 77, he is still energetic and sharp enough to do the job.
Where Bloomberg is wrong is thinking he can captivate a Democratic base that has moved sharply left since Barack Obama left office. He’s wrong, too, if he thinks policies that worked in New York City will appeal to contemporary Democrats.