Bloomberg Could Have Made A Real Difference Instead Of Wasting Over $100 Million That Flipped One Seat, Electing A Pointless Blue Dog

Bloomberg hates Trump. Very nice. Congratulations. He spends money expressing that hatred and plans to spend a lot more. Wonderful. If you run into him, you might say, "your country is grateful, Mr. Bloomberg." But that doesn't mean it's time for the country to saddle itself with another out-of-touch, reactionary billionaire, even if one demonstrably less horrible than Trump.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg was in DC promoting Paris to Pittsburgh, a film about Climate Change he financed. Bloomberg told his audience that the brain-dead fake president "really could learn a lot from towns and cities featured in the documentary and which are taking action on climate change... “If he’s not willing to listen to his own administration’s scientific advisers-- and he isn’t-- he should at least listen to the people in this film."

Let me take a moment away from this post to urge you to watch the two and a half minute trailer for Paris to Pittsburgh, something I would say was a great and socially useful way for Bloomberg to spend some of his cash:



By now you've probably seen Chris Hayes' meme and 30-second video suggesting how to efficiently watch the 2020 campaigns unfold. Bloomberg has a (what he and his team think is a self-serving) corollary: "Every voter should ask the candidates not just what do you promise to do, but also what have you done, what have you delivered and how can we implement in a practical way your proposals."

Bloomberg was a Republican mayor of New York City. He switched to being an independent in the middle of his second term and ran as an independent/Republican for his third. And last year, somewhat incongruously, he switched parties and "became" a Democrat.

His political operation is completely staffed by yesteryear's, washed-up conservative Fox-Democrat types, like Doug Schoen, Howard Wolfson, Kevin Sheekey (an actual slime-ball Republican), Bradley Tusk (a Google and Uber lobbyist)... the kind of campaign operatives that make progressives wonder why they bother identifying with the Democratic Party.

Last year Bloomberg put over $100 million into electoral politics and left it to Wolfson to oversee. Today Wolfson puffs himself up and struts around claiming of the 24 Democratic congressional candidates, he spent (Bloomberg's) money on, 21 won, implying it was his Independence USA PAC that made the difference. That's a joke. That $110 or so million was appreciated by many candidates but made the win/lose difference in exactly one district: OK-05 (Oklahoma City), where they managed to upset the applecart in a way NO ONE expected. Yep, Bloomberg's millions elected exactly one Democrat: Kendra Horn, a cowardly conservative Blue Dog with an "F" voting record already-- with a miserable 42.86 crucial vote score. Most election experts agree that she's the most likely freshman to lose her seat in 2020. And no one will care other than the people who work for her.

But virtually all the Democrats Bloomberg spent money on are conservative, status quo types, mostly Blue Dogs and New Dems. In fact, going down the entire list of the candidates the Independence USA PAC spent on, only 3 winners-- Mike Levin (CA). Lauren Underwood (IL) and Donna Shalala (FL)-- haven't joined either the New Dems or Blue Dogs. Progressives who ran in 2018 universally say they were treated with contempt and disdain by the Bloomberg machine and, other than Levin, who was well-connected with establishment shit-heads, not a single progressive got one cent from Bloomberg's Independence USA PAC.

A still-angry Wisconsin Democratic Party official told me pretty much what I'm hearing from progressive activists in every campaign I go to. He was angry Bloomberg refused to back Randy Bryce. "Randy's race would have been perfect for Bloomberg. Relatively cheap media market, tight public polling, and a Republican being financed by the biggest villain out there: Paul Ryan. Problem is, a progressive iron worker is seen by Bloomberg as 'the help,' not the member of Congress. Whether it was Randy’s Latino heritage, his progressive bonafides, or his lack of a college degree, Mayor Stop-and-Frisk saw Randy Bryce as a sub class of human, not worth his time or money." Whoa!

This is where Bloomberg's money went, rather than to any of the candidates who backed the issues Bernie identified as a way forward for the party and country.

• Katie Hill (New Dem-CA)- $5,094,633
• Harley Rouda (New Dem-CA)- $4,458,187
• Kim Schrier (New Dem-WA)- $2,891,589
• Steven Horsford (New Dem-NV)- $2,828,601
• Haley Stevens (New Dem-MI)- $2,632,614
• Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI)- $2,417,604
• Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ)- $2,216,131
• Lauren Underwood (D-IL)- $2,160,984
• Jennifer Wexton (New Dem-VA)- $1,709,787
• Nancy Soderberg (LOST-FL)- $1,623,370
• Colin Allred (New Dem-TX)- $1,453,520
• Lizzie Fletcher (New Dem-TX)- $1,317,424
• Carolyn Long (LOST-WA)- $1,260,281
• Carolyn Bourdeaux (LOST-GA)- $1,048,672
• Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)- $998,271
• Dean Phillips (New Dem-MN)- $721,836
• Mike Levin (D-CA)- $686,722
• Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)- $646,255
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)- $429,664
• Jason Crow (New Dem-CO)- 244,583
• Chrissy Houlahan (New Dem-PA)- $212,766
• Donna Shalala (D-FL)- $142,615
• Angie Craig (New Dem-MN)- 130,879
• Lucy McBath (New Dem-GA)- $130,000

The mighty Bloomberg machine purposefully-- and with a real vengeance-- ignored actual progressive candidates from coast to coast-- and if you look at the races where Democrats came closest to flipping a red seat, the moment Bloomberg's people got an inkling the Democrat was a progressive, they refused to spend money in the district. Bloomberg ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS prefers conservative Republicans (like himself) to progressive Democrats. These seven races, pitting solid progressive Democrats against conservative Republicans, would likely have all flipped from red to blue had Bloomberg's Independence USA PAC agreed to spend significant money in them. Instead he spent ZERO:

• CA-50-- Duncan Hunter (R-51.7%) v Ammar Campa-Najjar (D-48.3%)
• IA-04-- Steve King (R-50.3%) v J.D. Scholten (D-47.0%)
• MI-06-- Fred Upton (R-50.2%) v Matt Longjohn (D-45.7%)
• NE-02-- Don Bacon (R-51.0%) v Kara Eastman (D-49.0%)
• NY-24-- John Katko (R-52.6%) v Dana Balter (D-47.4%)
• NY-27-- Chris Collins (R-49.1%) v Nate McMurray (D-48.8%)
• TX-10-- Michael McCaul (R-51.1%) v Mike Siegel (D-46.8%)

Bloomberg could have made a real difference-- instead, he elected a pointless Blue Dog who votes with the Republicans and who will likely be defeated next time she faces the voters.

So Howard Wolfson won't take the pay cut to work for his old boss Hillary? Awww! (Phew!)

by Ken

I know I promised more "Trapped in the meltdown" news, and we'll get to that, but first let's pause for a bit of happy news. Every now and then we dodge a bullet we didn't even know was heading toward us. So it is with the news, courtesy of our Washington Post "In the Loop" pal Al Kamen, that mush-mouthed mouthpiece (turned Fox News "liberal" commentator) Howard Wolfson will not be working for Sec'y of State-designate Hillary Clinton.

I know we'll be accused of Hillary-bashing, but when we think of some of the creepy people she had masterminding and fronting for her presidential campaign, and then think of some of them moving with her to the State Dept., well, we'd rather not think about it. I for one am relieved to be hearing of this particular rumor in the same story in which it's shot down:

No Bureaucrat, Wolfson

There's been chatter that the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's communications director, Howard Wolfson, was in line to become perhaps assistant secretary for public affairs or some other top post in Sen. Clinton's new job at Foggy Bottom. We heard yesterday that that's not happening and that he may be landing a new gig in Manhattan.

Maybe he couldn't handle the salary reduction. The State Department position pays but $153,200 a year, a small fraction of his recent earnings. By one calculation, he was paid about $1 million for 18 months on the campaign trail. Another calculation has it at about $800,000.

Either way, government work would be a serious whack in the wallet.

Whoa there! Wanna run those numbers past us once more, a little slower? For 18 months on the campaign trail, our Howie was paid how much??? A million smackeroos??????

Getouttahere!

Well, if that's the salary bracket he's now accustomed to, we wouldn't want him to make that kind of financial sacrifice -- to do for the State Dept. what he did for Hillary's campaign.


STOP THE PRESSES: MAYOR MIKE BLOOMBERG
SHOWS OUR HOWIE THE MONEY -- AND HE JUMPS!

Wolfson to Work for Bloomberg

In an interview with NY1, top Democratic strategist Howard Wolfson announced that he will be joining New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's re-election campaign as a senior communications adviser.

Bloomberg was elected twice as a Republican and now is registered as an independent.

Asked about some of the tough words he has had for the mayor in the past -- including once calling him "an out-of-touch billionaire", Wolfson joked: "That was my evil twin."

Ha ha, good one, Howie. Evil twin. Yeah. Ha ha.

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Today's Silliest And Smarmiest News Items

McCain is stumbling around Pennsylvania with ex-Governor Tom Ridge and the foolish media is going along with the exciting idea of a McCain/Ridge ticket, even though the religious right has already specifically nixed Ridge as too moderate and told McCain not to dare. He won't.

For those who hoped we'd never hear from Howard Wolfson again, one of the brain trust responsible for the defeat of Hillary Clinton, we have this: "I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee." He claims-- like someone cares what this sack claims-- internal campaign polling showed "our voters and Edwards voters were the same people. They were older, pro-union. Not all, but maybe two-thirds of them would have been for us and we would have barely beaten Obama." or maybe they would have been reminded of tawdry sexual affairs and adultery and flocked en masse to Obama. Who knows? Not Howard Wolfson.

Digby caught a good one yesterday, Cokie Roberts blurting out a Karl Rove talking point. Apparently, according to the always wrong about everything Cokie, Hawaii, American's most desirable vacation destination, is too exotic and foreign for Obama and he should have taken his vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Apparently, Hawaii isn't quite American enough for Cokie and her provincial pals in the beltway, even though it's one of the 50 states.

I remember that Clinton got dinged right after he was elected for vacationing in Santa Barbara because it was too "California." Unless you're a Republican presidential candidate apparently you shouldn't go to any western beach, much less to Hawaii, unless you want to be called a foreign fag. You have to go to a Cokie approved place like Myrtle Beach where they have Real Americans. Maybe he could eat some pork while he's there, this proving that he isn't a Muslim. (Of course, then Cokie and her gossipy little village friends would condemn him for pandering and being "inauthentic.")

Obama went to high school in Hawaii, his grandmother and his sister and her family still live there. It's his real home state. The idea that he can't go there because it's too foreign is truly insulting to the Americans who live there. Evidently Obama isn't going to be allowed to go anywhere but Iowa and Illinois without being suspected of some sort of traitorous foreignness by the beltway gasbags. Well played Mr Rove.

And then there are the announcements about gays getting married. No, not in California. Florida's 52 year old "bachelor" Governor, Charlie Crist, is marrying his beard on December 12 in St Petersburg's First United Methodist Church. But ex-New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, unlike Crist, is embracing his real self and riding off into the sunset with boyfriend Mark O'Donnell now that his divorce has been finalized. Finalized but... "the mudslinging could continue. [The ex-wife] filed a separate fraud claim, saying McGreevey married her knowing he was gay." Gay attention, Charlie.

And that photo above? McCain claimed the 1,259 pound pig was his favorite part of the Iowa State Fair. He also met the Pork Queen and then headed over to a fundraiser for his kind of people at a Des Moines country club.

Most of the Blue America endorsed candidates have challenged the Republicans they're running against to an energy debate. Most, like John "#dontgo Boston Tea Party" Shadegg (R-AZ-$119,495), would rather debate themselves in an empty House of Congress and wave air pressure gauges over their heads. Similarly, two weeks ago Sam Bennett challenged incumbent Bush rubber stamp Charlie Dent to a real debate on energy policy. He's too scared to face her probably because he's taken $75,831 from Big Oil and has voted for all the initiatives in Congress that they designed to drive up their profits-- and their profits don't go up by keeping gasoline prices low.

“Congressman Dent is so deep in the pocket of Big Oil companies and special interest groups he’s refusing to publicly defend his record and have an open debate about the issue,” said Kathryn Seck, Sam Bennett’s campaign manager. “He should explain why he’s taken $75,000 from Big Oil and given them billions in tax breaks while middle class Pennsylvanians are struggling to afford high gas prices.  Voters deserve an open dialogue on the issues and Congressman Dent is ducking the issue.”

And then there's Old McCain still croaking out his nonsense about Obama being too big a celebrity to be president. Actually, Obama's campaign has a great response today:

DWT exclusive breaking news: Clinton camp sees delegate-gathering momentum putting candidate in the lead "by January, or February at the latest"

Our pal Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks reports doing some serious numbers-crunching on the mighty Joementum that has brought Hillary Clinton back into the thick of the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination in the wake of "Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, etc." Says Cenk, "She has LOST 53 delegates in that time."

Clearly the architects of the Clinton campaign juggernaut have been crunching the numbers too, and have come up with a bold prediction. Herewith a DWT exclusive:

Clinton Aide Reportedly Predicts That Candidate Will
Overtake Rival "by January, or February at the Latest"

WHISTLESTOP, WEST VIRGINIA, May 7--An aide to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton was quoted today as saying that, "at the rate we're gathering momentum, we're confident that we'll have overtaken the other guy in delegate count by January, or February at the latest."

According to a spokesman for Clinton spokesman Howard "Candy Lips" Wolfson [above], "It's just a matter of letting events take their course. Plus we're confident that in the November election many of the officeholder superdelegates supposedly leaning toward Senator Obama will be thrown out of office and replaced by people who want Hillary to be by the phone at 3am."

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