JAKE CHESSUM /TRUNKARCHIVE.COM
InvestigationPhilanthropy, an American history (5/5). Billionaires are happy to rely on their charity work for political action, but that does not guarantee that they will win the election.
His teams speak of "Mike" and disparage "Trump" without any other form of civility. As if Michael Bloomberg, the eighth American fortune with 54 billion dollars (48 billion euros), was, at 77 years old, a citizen like any other, accessible to everyone. In reality, the former mayor of New York is waging a “Jupiterian” campaign: a torrent of advertising to his glory to hope to win the Democratic primary in Super Tuesday, in early March, when 14 states, including California and Texas, will vote . But very little "ground", except for small thematic meetings. "No other information is available on Mike's calendar this week", replied at the end of November, in an unsigned email, his campaign team.
With 5.5% of voting intentions, Mr. Bloomberg will prove, except in the case of a rebound, that the election cannot be bought
Its competitor, Elizabeth Warren, the progressive senator from Massachusetts, opened fire when her candidacy was announced in late November 2019. "Michael Bloomberg is betting on the 2020 election: he doesn't need people to go door to door, he doesn't need campaign help, but bags and bags of money. I don't think the elections should be for sale ”, lamented the candidate.
The criticism is not unfounded, even if Mr. Bloomberg has been bending door-to-door since January. He is one of those men who think that their success in business legitimates them into politics. His fortune allowed him to move from the status of "billionaire" to that of "philanthropist" and gave him the freedom to defend climate protection and the fight against arms. The ultimate, logical step would be to become the providential man capable of freeing America from Trumpism by taking a seat in the White House.
Michael Bloomberg, who was mayor of New York from 2002 to 2013, long hesitated to run. Go there, or pull the strings behind the scenes through philanthropy? The choice is not easy. The entrepreneur had started by giving up, in a letter of March 5, 2019: "Should I spend the next two years talking about ideas and my accomplishments, knowing that I may never win the Democratic nomination? Or should I spend the next two years redoubling my efforts on the actions that I am already carrying out and funding, and which I know are already producing tangible and positive results for the country? " Then he changed his mind, worried about Elizabeth Warren’s billion dollar offensive, which he said could cause the Democrats to lose. Above all, he can't stand Donald Trump staying in the White House.
