Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Michael Bloomberg may not be my first choice for president, but I very much object to some of the objections that have been raised against him.
Let me take those one at a time:
1. He’s rich: Yes. He built a media empire through innovative entrepreneurial skill and effectively led a growing business through all the stages of its development to the point where it’s now worth $60 billion (with a “B”). His opponents hold that against him. Most of us out here call that success.
2. He’s a racist: He instituted “stop-and-frisk” policing in high-crime areas of a crime-ridden city. See? When you put it that way instead of “in minority areas,” it sounds like tough law enforcement, not racism. Since high-crime areas also tend to be the high-minority-population areas, Bloomberg now feels he must apologize for being tough on crime because people of color in these neighborhoods tend to be the ones stopped and frisked.
3. He’s an elite: People who build $60 billion empires have a tendency to be smart, patient, hard-working, creative individuals. If that’s how we define “elite,” we should reconsider our use of that word as a pejorative, as it is used on the campaign trail.
The offensive “elite” should be reserved for entitled mediocrities who were born into more money than any 50 people could ever need, like President Donald Trump.
We need smart, patient, hard-working creative individuals to run things, like the country, no matter what we call them.
4. He’s trying to buy the election: He’s thinking out of the box. He’s using big-picture thinking, not bogging himself down in the soul-stealing grind of the usual way, just because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.”
He’s using his own money, because as much as we like to praise thinking out of the box, most people fear real ex-cube thinking and would try to discourage him.
Bloomberg has focused his wealth and talent where it really matters. He has bought blanket media advertising in targeted areas where the votes happen to be.
His opponents hold it against him that he might be smarter than they are about campaigning.
5. He’s not really a Democrat: He was a Republican when he was the mayor of New York, a moderate Republican. The GOP doesn’t allow that any more. Especially under Trump, Republicans are held to an extremely rigid line of thought. Many thoughtful Republicans have changed parties due to that rigidity.
6. He turned in a bad debate performance: OK, I’ll concede that one.
Bloomberg is a moderate, and he’s one of four competent moderates in the Democratic presidential race. I could support any of them — Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden or Bloomberg.
Right now democratic socialist Bernie Sanders is the front runner. I agree with those who say Sanders’ nomination would guarantee a victory for Trump, with or without Russian support.
For me, however, with the same revulsion I felt in voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and George McGovern in 1972, I would mark the ballot for Sanders, because the alternative is even worse.
Steve Hansen writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at: