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Michael Bloomberg is following in the footsteps of other top moderate Democratic candidates. Following a disappointing performance on Super Tuesday, the former New York City Mayor has announced that he will be dropping out of the race.
Bloomberg had pumped $500 million of his own money into his campaign with the hope of performing well on Super Tuesday, but the return on investment was not there.
On Wednesday morning, after traveling back to New York City to reassess his campaign, Bloomberg informed staff members that his campaign is over. Bloomberg is reportedly set to endorse former Vice President Joe Biden moving forward.
Bloomberg had previously said that he does not believe the Democratic Party is looking for a candidate like Sanders at the top of the ticket.
“I don’t think the country wants revolutionary change,” Bloomberg said ahead of Super Tuesday, via the New York Times. “I think the country wants evolutionary change, and Sanders is a very revolutionary kind of guy.”
With Bloomberg dropping out, Biden could now benefit from having the Bloomberg machine behind him.
From the report:
Mr. Bloomberg deployed his wealth to assemble an enormous campaign team of over 2,400 staff members spread across hundreds of offices. He concentrated more than 100 of those offices in Super Tuesday states, where his infrastructure quickly exceeded that of his opponents. For instance, in Ms. Warren’s home state of Massachusetts — where Mr. Bloomberg himself grew up — he established six field offices across the state, four more than Ms. Warren and five more than Mr. Biden, who ultimately won there. His campaign spent lavishly in other ways, paying staff members unprecedented salaries and seeking to woo voters with slick campaign events that featured swag (tote bags, water bottles, an array of T-shirts in all sizes), drinks (wine, beer, lemonade) and banquet-style food spreads (brisket, cheesesteaks, gourmet flatbread pizzas). They also leveraged the sophistication of Bloomberg LP’s data science, bringing to bear proprietary technology like an artificial intelligence program.
Biden currently leads Sanders in the delegate count and scored a shocking win of Texas on Super Tuesday. As moderates continue to consolidate around him, “Joementum” seems to be a real thing.
