If we know anything about America in 2016, it’s that gun confiscation, calorie restriction, and Wall Street all enjoy overwhelming popular support, especially in swing states.* So it should come as no surprise that Michael Bloomberg, a public figure associated with bond trading, small sodas, and weapons bans, is once again contemplating a run at the White House.
Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that the former mayor had commissioned a poll testing how he would fare in a three-way race against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Some pundits have speculated that a Trump nomination would leave most white-collar Republicans looking for a less gauche representative of their interests. But it’s hard to see how Bloomberg would fit that bill. Although he’s no economic populist, the billionaire is a champion of government regulation, whose crusade against the Super Big Gulp will never be forgotten.
A longtime Democrat, Bloomberg became a Republican to avoid a difficult primary when he ran for New York’s mayoralty in 2001. He seriously contemplated an independent run for president in 2008, but abandoned his efforts early, saying later that he couldn’t see a path to an electoral win. In 2012, he endorsed Barack Obama’s reelection, citing the president’s strong support for action on climate change.
*sar·casm (n.): the use of irony to mock or convey contempt.
