Has bloomberg got what it takes to take on trump? | thearticle

The sudden emergence of Michael Bloomberg as a serious contender for the Democratic nomination has thrown the outcome of November’s presidential election into doubt. Having left his

candidacy until the last possible moment, the former Mayor of New York is now running second in the polls behind Bernie Sanders. This qualifies him to take part in tonight’s TV debate in

Nevada, when he will for the first time come up against his rivals. The latter’s panic reaction to Bloomberg’s surge tells its own story. They are falling over themselves to denounce yet

another “egomaniac billionaire” and accusing him of arrogantly presuming to “buy the nomination”. Such sour grapes reveal their anxiety that the most expensive election campaign in history

is showing results.  Bloomberg is also setting out a policy platform that is notably more moderate than any of the others, with the possible exception of the other ex-mayor in the contest,

the talented Pete Buttigieg. At 78, Bloomberg is one of the oldest candidates, while Buttigieg is an astonishing 40 years younger. If Buttigieg were to bow to the older man’s experience and

become his running mate, they could present the Democrats with a dream ticket. Yet it is far from clear that, even supposing that this dynamic duo have the delegates, next July’s party

convention in Milwaukee would embrace their centrist programme. Even Bloomberg’s offer to sell his media empire if he were elected as President might not be enough to placate the radical

progressives who now control the Democratic Party. They regard Barack Obama’s presidency as a missed opportunity to drag America on the same Leftist journey that they propose to take the

party of the Kennedys and the Clintons.  The Democrats are therefore risking a second successive defeat. Bloomberg has no doubt that he can beat Trump. It is more than doubtful whether any

of the other candidates could do so. But how would “little Mike” (as the President calls him) fare in what would inevitably become a grudge match between two elderly New York tycoons?

Photographs of Bloomberg holding a black baby exemplify the problem he faces. (The child looked alarmed by the elderly stranger.) Despite endorsements from some members of the Congressional

Black Caucus, the former Mayor is still identified with the “stop and frisk” policy he championed in New York. Such tough policing helped to cut street crime, but has been criticised as

discriminatory against black men and boys. Without winning over black and other ethnic minority support, Bloomberg’s billions will avail him nothing. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of

his candidacy is the fact that he is Jewish. The United States was the first major country to grant full emancipation to Jews, but it has never had a Jewish President. Indeed, until Louis

Brandeis became a Justice of the Supreme Court in 1916 during the administration of Woodrow Wilson, to be followed by Felix Frankfurter under Franklin D Roosevelt, Jews had been largely

excluded from high office in the US. Even in academic life, anti-Semitism and unofficial quotas persisted until surprisingly late. In 1939, Lionel Trilling became the first full professor in

the English department at Columbia, New York’s leading university, to be Jewish. In some Ivy League universities, it took even longer for Jews to take the first step on a career that could

lead to the very top. So far, the White House has proved unattainable. Bloomberg could change all that. As a former Republican, now running as a Democrat, he could also help to overcome the

extreme and occasionally violent polarisation that has marred American politics since long before Trump. If no candidate has a clear majority by the end of the primary season, the Democrats

will have a “brokered convention” for the first time in decades. It would then even be possible to draft in a new candidate, such as Michelle Obama or even Hillary Clinton. However, an

untested nominee would be so risky, especially against Trump, that it is very unlikely to happen. Bloomberg looks like a strong consensus candidate, especially as his age makes it likely

that he would be a one-term President. Other younger rivals could bide their time in the hope of another, later opportunity to run — though this would hardly apply to Joe Biden, Bernie

Sanders or even Elizabeth Warren, all of whom are over 70. At all events, the possibility of Bloomberg as a presidential challenger is bound to electrify the Democratic race. Republicans are

dismissive in public, but nervous in private. We will know better after tonight’s debate whether Bloomberg has what it takes to take on Trump.