If confirmed, the former mayor of New York's entry into the field would be dangerous for Democrat Joe Biden, who lost ground three months before the first election.
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg came closer, on the evening of Friday, November 8, to a candidacy for the White House by running for the Democratic primary in Alabama.
The billionaire, founder of the financial news agency bearing his name, has not officially announced that he is embarking on the race for the presidential election of 2020, but said it was thinking about it. This nomination in this southern state of the United States, one of the first to close the list of candidates, allows him to keep all options open.
Earlier Friday, after Bloomberg's announcement that he was thinking of getting into action, former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic runner-up, wanted to be confident. "He is welcome. Michael is a good guysaid Barack Obama's ex-right-hand man from Concord, New Hampshire, where he had just submitted his official candidacy for the primary of this influential state, as one of the first to vote in February.
Two men in the center
If it were confirmed, the presence of Michael Bloomberg in the race would be dangerous for Joe Biden, losing momentum to three months of the first election. Both men are playing at the center.
Swearing to have " no problem " with the possible entry of Michael Bloomberg on the track, Biden stood in the best position to prevent Donald Trump from getting a second term in a year. "I was way ahead in the last polls I watched", especially in the key states to win the White House, also "Good against Trump" than the many candidates for the Democratic nomination, he said.
Also billionaire and septuagenarian, the US president has reacted with disdain to a possible candidacy of Michael Bloomberg. "Little Michael will fail", he assured with reference to the size of the billionaire, about 1.70 m. "I think he's actually going to hurt Biden", he added.
Mr. Bloomberg, 77, had announced in March that he was giving up his bid to, among other things, not undermine the chances of Mr. Biden, 76 years old. His turnaround would therefore appear as a clear signal that he seriously doubts Joe Biden's chances. he "Fears more and more that the current group of candidates is not in a good position to get there"said Howard Wolfson, adviser to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg, one of the world's top 10 fortunes with more than $ 50 billion according to the magazine Forbes, would be ready "To spend what it will take to beat Donald Trump"said Friday the Axios political site. Ira, will not you? In the past, Mr. Bloomberg has already hinted several times that he could target the White House before giving up.
Biden "no longer as strong"
Going into the campaign straight into the polls in April, Biden remains the favorite among the 17 candidates running for the Democratic primary, but he has seen his lead largely undermined by Progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren, who worries Wall Street.
It is followed in the polls by independent Senator Bernie Sanders and then in fourth place by centrist Pete Buttigieg, who could also see his chances disrupted by an entry in the running of Mr. Bloomberg.
It is precisely because he is worried that the race for the Democratic nomination could set course too far with Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders that Michael Bloomberg (re) would consider running. "Mr. Biden's candidacy is no longer as strong as in the beginning, and if Mr. Bloomberg gets the support of the centrist party members of the Democratic Party, it will be(It) a strong signal for Biden that the party does not think it is the right candidate either "Jason Mollica, a professor of communication at American University, says. Mr. Bloomberg still needs "Demonstrate that he can genuinely attract enough support to harm Biden, or any other", nuance Kyle Kondik, political scientist at the University of Virginia.
Mayor of New York for twelve years, Michael Bloomberg is very active in the fight against climate change, and he has spent millions to support Democratic candidates in local elections.
But while he once claimed to be independent and republican, this moderate might find it hard to rally the votes of progressive voters.
