Michael Bloomberg and to a lesser extent Steyer are getting flak from the left for spending hundreds of millions on ads for their political campaigns that will never succeed. That money could go to more useful things like supporting democratic politicians, progressive causes, etc.
So has it been studied where money is most effective in politics? I mean there are multiple things you can do with it.
Give it to politicians in swing districts and swing states and let them decide what to do.
Support voter registration drives and turnout efforts.
Fund think tanks and media outlets to push a narrative
Fund political groups (environmental groups, womens rights groups, etc)
Fund legal efforts to push your agenda (maybe fund legal fights to expand voter rights, etc)
Fund ads for yourself
Fund ads for politicians you like
etc.
Is there any way of knowing which is most or least effective or are these things too vague? Is there any way of determining whether spending $10 million dollars in one way or another is more effective? Bloomberg seems to be a successful businessman, so him spending half a billion dollars on ads for a campaign that has about a 0% chance of succeeding is confusing. I’m not sure what he thinks will happen. Maybe he has some secret strategy I don’t know about, but I don’t know.
He’s a massively data-driven guy who long-shotted his way to NY mayor. I truly think he believes he has a chance, and for a billionaire his age, why not take a swing? Better than running Pedophile Island or something like that.
You have to realize just HOW freaking wealthy Bloomberg is. He’s not just a billionaire, he’s a billionaire more than 50 times over. And he’s always used a large portion of his fortune to advance public policy. He can put really significant money into multiple fronts, he doesn’t have to make those choices.I’m almost positive he’s done 3-7 ( not sure about 1+2) plus some other stuff like partnering with existing organizations like the Sierra Club.
He’s being publicly cagey about how much he intends to spend and that’s still the big question. But if he’s willing to spend whatever it takes to get Trump out of office, who knows what that might look like. If he decides throw 2 or 3 or 5 billion dollars behind himself or whoever gets the Democratic nomination, it could be a campaign the likes of which has never been seen before. And I think it could work.
IF he does this. But I’m pretty sure the entry of his money into the 2020 presidential t
race means there will never be a wealth tax in my lifetime.
I never liked Bloomberg but screw it…I’m willing to compromise a LOT to avoid 4 more years of Trump. And since he is a way more successful NY billionaire, he has a unique ability to get under Trumps skin. I think he’s doing this in large part just to fuck with Trump for the fun of it. And I like that.
Yes, I realize even Bloomberg’s money is unlimited. But in each “category” of influence their are going to be some projects and partnerships with very high potential and some that aren’t necessarily that great, with diminished returns. And his money is enough to put together a portfolio, as it were - of what he feels are the best political “investments” over a broad spectrum of paradigms.