”Michael Bloomberg spent $1.2 billion on his failed presidential bid making it the most expensive in history, according to campaign finance filings.
”Bloomberg self-funded his 104-day attempt to secure the Democratic nomination, but only one primary contest: the tiny territory of American Samoa. Arguably, He entered the contest too late. He was not on the ballot in the first four Democratic state contests, and staked his fortune on Super Tuesday on March 3 when 14 states and one territory held their votes. But he failed to record any first or second places in states on Super Tuesday, coming third in seven and fourth in seven others. He suspended his campaign the next day but still paid $176 million for staffing, advertising and other costs last month, according to his filing with the Federal Election Commission.
”Mr Bloomberg, 78, was crushed by the resurgence of Joe Biden, the former vice-president, who looked down and out after the first two votes in Iowa and New Hampshire but staged a remarkable comeback to become the presumptive nominee. Mr Biden, 77, has so far spent $76 million on his presidential campaign, less than one fifteenth of Mr Bloomberg’s splurge and all raised from donors.
”The Bloomberg campaign spend compares with the $969 million Hillary Clinton spent in 2016 and Trumps spend of $531 million on his run. He appeared ill prepared for his first television debate on February 19 when he responded weakly to attacks from Elizabeth Warren, 70, a senator from Massachusetts.
“Mr Bloomberg lured many experienced Democratic activists to work for his campaign and two class action lawsuits were launched by former staff claiming that he had promised to pay them until November’s election but had cut them off without the money they expected, leaving them without healthcare insurance.”(an edited version of an article from The Times, London today,m
My take: Reassuring really. At least it isn’t so easy to buy the presidency. The emphasis on money raised is obscene. There should be public funding for elections – a set amount, and you are disqualified if you cheat. This would put the emphasis on ideas, character and policies and reduce the corruption we see as big donors with no experience in governing are “rewarded” with government posts and ambassadorships. And yet most people seem to support this unsupportable systems d are governed accordingly.