John Avlon Assesses Bloomberg’s 2020 Chances

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, just your take on what you just heard from Mike Bloomberg. You know, he really does come across as somebody who wants to try, that, you know, he’s not arrogant enough to think he can win but wants to really give it the good college try because of the issues. Particularly, as he said, climate, guns, education, women’s issues, all the things that he’s put his money behind over the last many years.

JOHN AVLON, FORMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE DAILY BEAST: Yes. Look, as you pointed out, he had decided not to run in March. He flirted with campaigns in the past. But I think it’s significant that he decided to get it really at the last minute. A lot of folks who thought about running were boxed out by Joe Biden’s strength in the polls, and he has been Teflon. He keeps at the top of the pack no matter what else is happening. But a few months ago, as Elizabeth Warren seemed to be surging and Pete Buttigieg has his moment, a lot of folks were sort of saying, you know what, they were concerned about Joe Biden’s durability over the long haul. And so, it makes sense for a guy who has been, you know, successful three- term mayor of New York City to look at someone like Pete Buttigieg and say, you know, he’s a 37-year-old mayor of Indiana’s fourth largest city, maybe I should get in. And only Mike Bloomberg, frankly, has the money to do it. We have no idea, Christiane, the impact of the amount of money he’s going to spend. Never going to see anything like it. It’s a big idea. He’s going to hit some resistance from the far-left, as you pointed out. But he can also make the case that he’s been committed some of the issues they most care about.

AMANPOUR: Let us just play a quick sort of soundbite from Joe Biden who, as we’ve just said, is leading the pack since he got in and up until now. This is what he said about Bloomberg’s money and his reason for running.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I agree that he has decided that he is better off spending his own money, which is unlimited amounts of money, than going out and trying to raise new money. I don’t know. I think they’re going to look and decide what is he bringing and what’s he adding to the race?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So, there are two questions there. One, he is spending his own money. The taxpayers are not being hit for this bill. What does he bring? And just another thing, John, of course, you know, the previous, you know, well-positioned candidate who spent a huge amount of money was Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida. He spent a huge amount of money, more than Bloomberg has yet spent. And yet, he dropped out pretty early and ended up with less delegates than you can count on one hand.

AVLON: Yes. Look, money matters but it’s not determinative in a populist era and we’ve seen that over and over. Hillary Clinton overwhelmingly outspent Donald Trump, for example. I think the scale, as you pointed out, where he’s spending multiples of the Democratic field and not focusing on the first four states is what’s going to be really fascinating to watch. The other thing is going to be that he’s going to be investing in state parties, which I think may create more of a groundswell of support for him than people might imagine.