Let us start with the basics: if this November’s presidential election ends up as a race between Michael Bloomberg and Donald Trump, American progressives must spare no effort to get Bloomberg elected. Trump denies climate change, stymies gun control, brutalises migrants, trashes the country’s democratic norms and treats its international alliances as his playthings. Bloomberg does none of that, nor would he as president. The self-made financial data tycoon is unquestionably preferable to the inheritance-squandering property tycoon. To equate them, as some on the left are doing, is an unpardonable act of self-indulgence.
Such a showdown is now becoming thinkable. Bloomberg’s bid for the Democratic nomination initially seemed a long shot. The former New York City mayor is not even contending the first four primary and caucus states: having missed Iowa and New Hampshire, he will now skip Nevada and South Carolina and enter the race only on 3 March, when 14 states vote on Super Tuesday. With erstwhile frontrunner Joe Biden faltering and Bernie Sanders leading a relatively crowded race, Bloomberg hopes to sweep up moderate support. He is focusing on the 38 per cent possibility (according to the latest forecast) that no single candidate will secure a majority, leading to a brokered Democratic convention in July, at which he might beat Sanders.
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