Just when we thought we’d seen the last of Michael Bloomberg online, he popped his head out. Although, this time, it’s for a fairly different reason.
Whereas the billionaire and former NYC mayor famously spent more than a billion dollars on his unsuccessful 2020 bid for president, he’s now resurfacing in the news after it was announced that he’d be donating $100M to the Biden Campaign’s efforts in Florida.
Winning Florida has long been an electoral must for presidential hopefuls, as the swing state holds 29 electoral votes, a not-insignificant chunk of the 270 votes needed to win the presidency.
The Biden campaign likely hopes to replicate turnout seen in Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 bids for president, wherein he proved successful in acquiring Florida’s electoral votes and surpassing a total of 270.
Bloomberg's sizable donation only further stokes the flames of fundraising comparison, as the Trump Campaign reported in August that it had raised $210M, a surprisingly meager total when stacked against the $364.5M Biden raised before securing Bloomberg’s donation.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Establishment Democrats kindred in stature to Biden may still feel a pressure that the numbers would have some think to be unnecessary. This may reflect the shock among pundits at Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss in Florida, despite having nearly $1.2B, roughly twice as much as Trump.
Furthermore, the state of Florida proved difficult for Democrats to win through even conventional means, as the Supreme Court famously sided with George Bush in Bush V. Gore, and allowed him to win the state (and thus the whole election) by just over 500 votes, without forcing a recount.
In a Supreme Court which leans conservative, Bloomberg’s cash infusion is a behemoth act of assistance but doesn’t bring forth a surefire victory.
[via]
