Bloomberg’s camp is signaling they are going to take a no holds barred strategy go after Bernie Sanders tonight. Mixing in old personal history and remarks he made going back 40 years in an attempt to create an open avenue for himself next Tuesday.
I think this will backfire on him, here’s why. Bloomberg as a Republican, ran a bare knuckles type mayoral campaign in New York City. His personal style appealed to that city’s sensibilities. It’s a tough town. He had a reputation there, people knew him. Wall Street backed him as did the large Jewish community. The levers of power in NYC were in his corner.
Running a national election for the highest office in the land is nothing like running for mayor obviously, but that’s not the biggest differences Bloomberg will face, it’s in the decorum Democrats expect from their candidates. They don’t like mean. Republicans like their candidates to be on the angry combative side, even running against each other. Also, if they have to stretch the truth to do it so be it, they know that Fox will clean up after them later.
Democrats generally don’t appreciate that style of politics, especially if it’s directed at another candidate in a primary. Even if it has the desired affect, the perpetrator gets diminished as well most of the time. Case in point when Amy Klobuchar went off on Buttigieg in the Nevada debate last week. Primary voters were turned off it seems.
Bloomberg hasn’t gained sufficient rapport with Democratic primary voters to have earned the right to attack a respected candidate on stage and not experience some kind of repercussions.
Agree or disagree with Bernie’s policies, he is reasonably well liked by Democrats, a party that tends to reject bullies. Bloomberg can come off as a bully whose wealth substitutes for his fist. That is not the kind of candidate Democratic voters feel comfortable with. My experience around them is that the notion that the end justifies the means is not a stance they are willing to adopt.