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Checks and Balance from The Economist

Checks and Balance: Mike drop

Checks and Balance from The Economist

The Economist

News, United States, News & Politics, Politics

4.5 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2020

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Michael Bloomberg is trying to transform the Democrat presidential field through the sheer weight of his cash. But does politics in America really work that way? John Prideaux, The Economist’s US editor, Jon Fasman, and Charlotte Howard assess whether Bloomberg’s advertising campaign matches his mayoral record, why a legal case from the Watergate era has been crucial to the billionaire’s campaign, and how South Carolina’s minority voters are reassessing the moderate field. 


Listen to The Economist Asks: Michael Bloomberg


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Transcript

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0:00.0

A businessman known to be a Democrat decides to run for office as a Republican.

0:08.0

He touts his business experience and ability to spend his own money on his campaign.

0:12.0

He gets an enthusiastic endorsement. an ability to spend his own money on his campaign.

0:12.8

He gets an enthusiastic endorsement from Rudy Giuliani.

0:16.8

He's saying that he's the man to get the economy going.

0:20.5

It's 2001. Mike Bloomberg is running from

0:23.4

Mayor of New York and he wins.

0:25.1

We like fight! With 255 days to go,

0:31.6

this is checks and balance.

0:34.0

Mike Bloomberg is shaking up the Democratic presidential primary.

0:40.0

He's come into the race less through the traditional route of political strengths,

0:44.0

being a strong public speaker, good on the stump, then behind the weight of a solid gold battering ram.

0:51.5

More than $50 billion at his disposal. We're about to find out just how

0:56.4

far that can take him. Hello, I'm John Prido and this is Checks and Balance, a

1:01.7

podcast from the Economist about the 2020 elections and the

1:04.8

road to power in America.

1:07.2

I'm the Economist's US editor and from now until Election Day we'll take one theme each week and explore it in depth.

1:14.0

Today we'll be looking at whether the Michael Bloomberg of his advertising

1:17.6

Blitz is the same as the Michael Bloomberg who was Mayor of New York.

1:21.4

We'll be looking back into why spending billions of your own

1:24.4

dollars on a presidential campaign is entirely within the rules and we'll be looking

1:29.3

at the impact Mayor Mike is having on the Democratic field.

...

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