Maine Democrats have several capable presidential candidates on the March 3 primary ballot. We vote on “Super Tuesday,” when 14 individual states go to the polls and one-third of all national convention delegates will be chosen. While I have made modest financial contributions to Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden over the last 10 months, I am now all-in for Mike Bloomberg. Here’s why.
The 2020 election is all about beating Donald Trump. We need a president who will respect the rule of law, freedom of the press, the constitutional balance of powers and basic human decency. We must reverse Trump’s destructive policies on health care and climate change and his support for autocratic foreign adversaries, like Russia. Democrats need to nominate a candidate with a record of achievement, broad experience and the capacity to take on the massive disinformation campaign that Trump will certainly run. Mike Bloomberg is that candidate.
Mike is everything that Trump is not. Mike grew up in a middle-class family, working hard to pay his way through college. He built an extraordinarily successful business, starting in a one-room office. As mayor of New York City, as a businessman and philanthropist, he has funded and taken action on improving our health care system, fighting climate change and improving gun safety. And he has won.
Bernie Sanders and I served together in the U.S. House of Representatives for 10 years. I know him well. His great skill is generating enthusiasm among like-minded people. His great weakness is his inability to build coalitions with people of similar values but different policy positions.
Just after the Nevada caucus, Bernie wrote, “The Democratic establishment can’t stop me now!” Bernie’s actually admitting what we already know: A great many Democrats don’t support him. And rather than build a bigger, more inclusive campaign, he instead calls fellow Democrats the “establishment” to marginalize and malign them. It’s just like Trump dismissively calling his opponents “Never Trumpers.”
The truth is, the Democratic nominee can win only by appealing to all Democrats, plus independents and disaffected Republicans – of whom there are more than a few. That’s not in Bernie’s DNA and it’s not how he’s running his campaign. By comparison, bringing people together is what Mike Bloomberg is all about.
In addition, Democrats must be prepared to relentlessly confront the best-funded, least scrupulous president ever, who is already using the power of the presidency to extort campaign help from foreign governments.
Trump’s 2020 campaign has accumulated vast amounts of money to support his re-election and is building a much more sophisticated social media-disinformation campaign than in 2016. We also know that Russia is also doubling down on its efforts to support Trump.
Facing this onslaught, Democrats cannot win with a candidate who appeals to a narrow base and relies exclusively on small-dollar contributions. That’s simply the reality of this election.
And while I never anticipated a presidential candidate would have the ability to fund his own campaign, Mike Bloomberg’s resources are a significant asset in this election. Equally as important, Mike has the digital infrastructure and technical expertise to expose and defeat Trump’s amoral campaign.
In the final analysis, Democrats cannot be successful in 2020 if we nominate a candidate promoting a socialist “revolution” in America. That is a damaging fantasy that will keep Donald Trump in the White House for four more years. We cannot afford that. Mike Bloomberg will defeat Donald Trump and, as president, deliver on the issues that Maine Democrats care about most.
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