Former New York City Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg hasn’t decided if he’s going to enter the increasingly crowded Democratic field and run for president in 2020. But there’s one thing he is dead set on: ousting President Trump. And he has a plan in place.
Bloomberg is reportedly not only assembling a highly-experienced campaign team, but also putting hundreds of millions of dollars into building a data-driven political operation.
The Atlantic reports that Bloomberg plans to build a tool that will enable reaching voters in a more targeted way. Simply put, the goal is “all the data.” This reportedly includes unprecedented data collection on voters, matching voter data with consumer data and social media profiles, and then hiring “a team of engineers to do high-level analyses, looking for new ways to identify potential voters, and new ways to appeal to them.”
Bloomberg has already bought national voter files to start on the project, according to The Washington Post. And while the budget is yet to be determined, the operation is widely expected to be huge, fundamentally changing the Democratic Party’s approach in the next election.
The former mayor has already demonstrated the impact his money and might can have on Democratic races. Spending more than $100 million ahead of the 2018 midterms, Bloomberg was the single biggest Democratic donor during that election cycle. And his candidate won in 21 of the 24 races in which he got involved.
Ultimately, Bloomberg’s decision whether or not to run for president might hinge on whether former Vice President Joe Biden does. But even if he chooses not to enter the race, Bloomberg’s team and the tools they build will likely remain intact.
Several advisers told The Post that they would stay on to build what one called a “Koch brothers-type group for Democrats.” Their mission? Defeating Trump.
