Deval For All? Count Me Out

Is someone trying to make a point that there might be candidates as bad-- or worse-- than Status Quo Joe?

Today is the filing deadline to compete in the New Hampshire primary. Depending on which poll you read this week, Bernie, Elizabeth or Status Quo Joe is leading. Bloomberg isn't leading in any polls, perhaps primarily because he isn't being polled. In fact, he isn't even running. Oh, he's running in Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee, three of the most reactionary states in the Union, where Trump beat Hillary by 28, 27 and 26 points respectively. The 3 solid Trump electoral states are Super Tuesday states (March 3). No doubt Howard Wolfson, Bloomberg's chief strategist, has a plan. But for now, according to Wolfson, one of politics' most egregious yentas and leakers, that plan does not include New Hampshire, the first primary in the nation-- and a state that, unlike Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee, actually plays a role in electing Democrats.

No need to file in Iowa. And Bloomberg will likely get a scattering of caucus votes but the only poll that has included Bloomberg there, shows him with the most unfavorable-- by far-- reputation of any Democrat (15% favorable and 48% unfavorable among Democrats for a disastrous net favorability of minus 31). In Monmouth's own words, "Among the 361 likely caucus-goers contacted after he was added to the poll, just one voter selected him as their top candidate choice and only 1% named him as a second pick."

There has been consistent rumor-- also widely thought to be spread by Wolfson-- that Obama recruited Bloomberg to run with one purpose: to muddy up Warren (and Bernie and their progressive agenda). It seems far-fetched to me. Bloomberg has always wanted to be president, doesn't follow anyone's lead-- and that includes Obama-- and as much as he wants to dirty up Warren, Bernie and their agendas, he doesn't need Obama to encourage that. Besides, Obama already has Deval Patrick-- who was in New Hampshire yesterday filing for the primary-- for that.





The former low-key, moderate Massachusetts governor jumped into the conservative lane of the primary yesterday, another Wall Street-friendly Democrat opposing Medicare-for-All and fundamental change. Although never charged with a crime, he was once on the board of ACC Capital Holdings (the parent company of Ameriquest and Argent Mortgage, predatory lenders and big players in the subprime mortgage game). He currently serves as a managing director of Bain Capital. Recall chastising Mitt Romney for working there?

There is always a whiff of corruption around DeVille, as he was affectionately-- and not so affectionately-- known in Massachusetts but he was talking normal political bologna yesterday when he announced. "You can't know if you can break through if you don't get out there and try. I've been waiting for a moment like this my whole life. And by that I don't mean a moment to run for president, but a moment when the appetite for big ideas is big enough for the size of the challenges we face in America."

He slammed the Democrats who have been doing all the heavy lifting so far: "[W]e seem to be migrating to, on the one camp, sort of nostalgia, let's just get rid, if you will, of the incumbent president and we can go back to doing what we used to do. Or, you know, it's our way, our big idea, or no way. And neither of those, it seems to me, seizes the moment to pull the nation together and bring some humility that-- frankly-- we have a lot of ideas, but no one candidate, no one party has a corner on all the best ideas." On the other hand, his shady ties to health-care and drug companies, as the Wall Street Journal noted this morning, "could make him a punching bag for Democratic candidates who support single-payer health care and criticize the pharmaceutical industry."

He's out of sync with Democratic primary voters in several fronts-- another multimillionaire who opposes Medicare-for-All and a wealth tax, he super-serves special corporate interest and expects working families to be happy with the crumbs that fall off the tables of the super-rich like himself and his cronies.