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CityAndStateNY.com
MONEY AND MIND GAMES
Hit pieces. Microtargeting. Sabotage. Will Michael Bloomberg’s election playbook translate to the national stage? by G A B E P O N C E D E L E Ó N
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N JAN. 1, 2002, the richest man in New York City became its chief executive. For the next 12 years, Michael Bloomberg would lead an administration widely regarded as one of the most consequential in the city’s history. And though he entered electoral politics as a complete novice, New York City’s 108th mayor would go on to build a political apparatus the likes of which the city had never seen. But can the playbook that succeeded in New York City be replicated nationwide? Can his vaunted political operation be scaled? With Bloomberg now emerging as a top-tier contender in the 2020 presidential race, these are multibillion-dollar questions. Despite being the richest man in the city, Bloomberg was not particularly well known to ordinary New Yorkers in 2001. Nor did he possess the oratorical gifts that one would expect to see in a winning candidate. When the newly minted Republican got behind a microphone, he looked like a stiff billionaire, and sounded like one too. The year before, however, he had broadened his philanthropic footprint, donating more than half a billion dollars to hundreds of organizations, including 79 first-time beneficiaries located within the five boroughs. Bloomberg also opened up his pocketbook for some of the best talent in the business, including the pollster Doug Schoen, who had worked on Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns, Kevin Sheekey, who
