The Washington Post - 09.11.2019

SATURDAy, NOVEMbER 9 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST eZ re A

Bloomberg “may not be the favor- ite of the right or the left, but he is formidable.” [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

dav id Weigel and cleve r. Wootson Jr. contributed to this report.

and net worth that is multiple times greater than Trump’s and could easily self-fund his campaign while appealing to both p ar- ties. “Everybody in the race — Biden, Warren, Trump — needs to take this seriously,” said Westly, a former California state controller and a Silicon Valley investor.

super PAC supporting him, Unite the Country. The super PAC will be in a position “to help dramatical- ly,” he said, estimating that it would spend $10 million to $20 million in the four early states. Biden donor and fundraiser Steve Westly said Bloomberg has bona fide governing experience

Bloomberg’s concern was said to be not just the health-care policy, which is unpopular among some moderate Democrats, but also with Warren’s inability to market it. He s aw t hose factors as likely to reelect Trump. “He didn’t j ust wake up and s ay, ‘oh my God, the socialists are going to be running the country; I better run for president,’ ” Wolfson said. “He woke up and said, ‘oh my G od, Donald Trump is going to be reelected; I better run for president.’ ” Bloomberg’s pathway to the nomination is difficult; the former republican and independent carries substantial baggage from his years as mayor of New York City and from h is business career. A self-financed Bloomberg candidacy would reinforce criticism others in the race have leveled about the disproportionate influ- ence of the wealthy in the Ameri- can political process. He h as defended stop-and-frisk policing that civil rights groups denounce as racist, has a history of sexual harassment cases at his company that could prove a liabil- ity in the #meToo era and has long been a critic of public labor unions, a key Democratic constit- uency, w hen they refuse t o renego- tiate their pension plans or to weaken workplace protections for teachers i n public schools. He made his money selling technology to Wall Street banks, and he has also been critical of the Dodd-frank regulation enacted by Democrats under President Ba- rack obama. “A field that includes both Eliz- abeth and mayor Bloomberg will crystallize the debate over economic inequality and concentrat- ed wealth,” s aid U.S. rep. Jamie B. raskin (D-md.), a close friend of Warren’s. But Bloomberg could do signifi- cant damage to Biden, whose campaign has already forecast that Biden could lose the early states but would bounce back in South Carolina and on Super Tuesday, when black voters w ould play a larger role. By forgoing the early states, Bloomberg could dump signifi- cant resources into the states where the most delegates will be amassed even as he helps Warren define herself in ways helpful to attracting liberal voters. “The two happiest people in America today are Elizabeth War- ren and Donald Trump, because every vote that Bloomberg gets is a vote that only Joe Biden would have gotten. That makes Eliza- beth Warren happy,” said Biden backer John morgan, an orlando lawyer and prominent Democrat- ic donor. The undercurrent of Bloomberg’s decision is the widespread sense, even among supporters, that Biden has been a weaker-than-expected primary candidate. Dick Harpootlian, a Democrat- ic state senator in South Carolina and a longtime Biden supporter, said he donated six figures to the

BY SEUNG MIN KIM AND DAVID NAKAMURA

atlanta — President Trump
sought friday t o demonstrate sup-
port within the black community
ahead of his reelection bid next
year, vowing to campaign for “ev-
ery last African American vote”
even as polls show him with ane-
mic standing among that key de-
mographic.
The president rallied a few hun-
dred supporters at a Black Voices
for Trump campaign event at the
Georgia World Congress Center,
where h e boasted a bout economic
gains and criminal justice reform
and denounced Democratic lead-
ership in major American cities.
referring to the Democrats’
overwhelming advantage among
black voters, Trump told the audi-
ence: “It’s amazing that you’ve
stayed so long, to be honest. It
almost becomes a habit, right?
Like it’s, ‘oh, we vote for a Demo-
crat.’ N obody knows w hy t hey vote
for a Democrat.”
Trump was routed among black
voters i n 2016, with Democrat H il-
lary Clinton winning 88 percent
compared w ith just 8 percent who
supported Trump, according to
exit polls. Campaign officials sug-
gested that the new outreach ef-
fort, co-chaired by businessman
Herman Cain and Detroit pastor
Darrell Scott, will boost Trump’s
support in black communities.
But some analysts have sug-
gested the president’s goal is to
demonstrate to white voters i n the
suburbs, where republicans are
bleeding s upport, that he is racial-
ly tolerant despite racially

charged and racist attacks on minority Congress m embers over the summer. T he president was joined at the event b y several of his most prominent African American surro- gates. Among them was Housing and Urban Development Secre- tary Ben Carson, who introduced the president with a fiery speech eviscerating black political lead- ers w ho, h e said, attempt t o shame Trump’s b lack supporters. “It takes a lot of courage to say you’re supporting Trump,” Carson told the crowd. “Today, they say if you are a conservative, you’re somehow an Uncle Tom, you’re a horrible person, a demon. What a bunch o f crap.” Carson, who for nearly two years has been the only black official among Trump’s two dozen Cabinet members or West Wing senior staff, defended the president’s record, including as a businessman b efore taking office. “If he’s a racist, he’s an awfully bad one,” Carson said, adding that the “real racists” are those who believe all black voters must have the s ame p olitical views. T he president appeared upbeat during his hour-long address, and he praised supporters in the crowd, including performers Dia- mond and Silk and Daniel Camer- on, who on Tuesday was elected to become the first black attorney general i n Kentucky history. Trump faces a potentially difficult fight for reelection that could hinge on narrow margins in a few key states, including Pennsylva- nia, where the percentage of black voters dropped from 14 percent in 2012 to 10 percent i n 2016, hurting Clinton. But Trump faces a steep chal- lenge to make inroads of his own with black voters. A Washington Post-ABC News poll in late octo- ber found that just 7 percent of African Americans approve of

Trump’s job performance, compared with 49 percent of whites and 3 8 percent of Americans over- all. In all, 89 percent of black Americans disapprove of Trump, including 8 0 percent who “strong- ly” d isapprove. over the summer, Trump en- gaged in taunts with a group of minority lawmakers, telling four Democratic congresswomen, including rep. Alexandria ocasio- Cortez (N.Y.), to “go back” to for- eign countries, even though three were born i n the United States and the f ourth is a U. S. citizen. Trump also had derided rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-md.), who died last month, calling his home district “a disgusting, rat and ro- dent infested mess.” And he has

routinely disparaged former president Barack obama, who main- tains widespread support among African Americans. Trump made no specific men- tion of those fights during his re- marks, but he did cite crime and low-performing schools to assert that Democrats have failed in their leadership of many urban areas. He cited the strong economy, including a historically low unemployment rate, as well as work his administration has done to begin reforming the criminal justice system, a s evidence that h is policies are helping minority communities. H e accused Democrats of appealing to black voters during election cycles before “forgetting

about you” i n the y ears i n between. “They don’t fight for t he African American community,” Trump said. The purpose of the new coali- tion, according to a Trump campaign official, is to raise money, train activists and conduct outreach to black voters, with a message focused on the economy and prosperity. “The president’s message is very clear: What we’ve done has benefited that particular community in dramatic ways,” said Sen. David Perdue (r-Ga.), who was among several Georgia lawmakers, all white, who accompanied Trump to Atlanta, where they also participated in a GoP fundraiser. P erdue continued: “I believe

Democrats have pandered to that community for quite a while — that’s my personal opinion — and have failed them, and that’s what President Trump’s message is, partly, a s well.” Campaign officials are touting economic figures they say show how the Trump administration’s policies have benefited African Americans. The statistics cited include more than 1.2 million jobs created for black Americans since his election, leading to a 5.4 percent unemployment rate, and 350,000 fewer African Americans in poverty during his presidency. The campaign also plans to highlight a number of his administration’s accomplishments tar- geted toward black communities, including an opportunity Zones program created under the 20 17 tax l aw a imed a t bolstering invest- ment in low-income communities and the sweeping criminal justice overhaul law that Trump signed into law last year. m any in the crowd wore red Trump campaign hats with the “make America Great Again” and “Keep America Great” slogans. Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law who works as campaign adviser, mingled and took photos with supporters. The crowd cheered loudly when Trump took t he s tage, standing on chairs and snapping photos with their p hones. At one point, the crowd began chanting “four more years” and “eight more y ears!” “Sixteen more years,” Trump suggested with a chuckle. T hen he pointed at reporters covering the event and added derisively: “They’ll all go back and say, ‘I told you he wants to be a dictator.’ These people a re c razy.” [email protected] [email protected]

nakamura reported from Washington.

In Atlanta, Trump rallies black supporters ahead of 2020

eVAn VuccI/AssocIAted Press supporters of President trump cheer as he arrives to speak during the launch of Black Voices for trump, his new campaign outreach effort, at the Georgia World congress center on Friday in Atlanta.

Outreach initiative aims

to loosen Democrats’ grip

on key demographic

and unique primary process and be tested the same way that the other Democratic candidates have been and will be,” Buckley said in a statement. Not everyone in the party bought into the flurry of worry. Several polls have indicated that Democratic voters are largely sat- isfied with the current field, although 22 percent of moderates in a monmouth University survey released Wednesday said they would like t o see someone else run — which is twice the number of liberals who feel that way. “Democrats, we are kvetchers. We kvetch. We are anxious,” said randi Weingarten, the president of the American federation of Te achers. “We dwell in our a nxiety and our what-ifs. We should just let the p rocess run.” Biden on friday became the latest of a parade of candidates to make the trek to the secretary of state’s office in Concord, N.H., for the quadrennial ritual of filing paperwork to get on the ballot. “Welcome to the r ace. m ichael’s a solid guy. I have no problem w ith him being in the race,” Biden told reporters about Bloomberg. “A lso, in all those states that are swing states, if I’m not mistaken, I’m doing pretty well relative to Trump and relative to all the people running.” “Look at a ll the p olls,” h e added. “I’m leading across the board. And so I don’t q uite get this.” As h is campaign sought to proj- ect confidence, it made no appar- ent effort to alleviate the concerns of skittish supporters who have privately begun discussing their worries. Even if they don’t think Bloomberg will become the nominee, t hey worry about the d amage he might do to Biden’s c andidacy. former Pennsylvania governor Ed rendell, a prominent Biden backer, said the former vice president needs to perform well in the first four states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — to fend off Bloomberg, whose candidacy rendell said could appeal to him and others looking for potential alternatives in case Biden d oes n ot have a clear path to the nomination. “If Joe doesn’t s ucceed early o n, then I think that’s a danger,” rendell said. “I’m happy that there’s another alternative if Joe doesn’t win.” Warren o n friday largely avoid- ed any discussion about Demo- cratic skittishness and whether she would do more to answer lingering questions about her general election p rospects. Bloomberg’s indication of interest was driven by concerns about the performance of Demo- cratic candidates and w orry about the impact on Biden of the im- peachment inquiry and of War- ren’s h andling of medicare-for-all.

three things: nervousness about
Warren as a general election can-
didate, nervousness about Biden
as a primary candidate... and
fundamental nervousness about
Trump and somehow the party
will b low the race,” s aid the D emo-
cratic consultant David Axelrod.
“That’s really a lot of what’s moti-
vating donors and activists.”
Bloomberg’s sudden interest
was driven by looming deadlines
to file paperwork to get on state-
wide ballots. The calendar also
will force the hand of any other
potential entrants, a group that
must have either wealth or an
existing p olitical network to repli-
cate candidacies that in some cas-
es have been hustling for support
for nearly a year.
N ames being floated as poten-
tial candidates include former
massachusetts governor Deval
Patrick and former U.S. attorney
general Eric H. Holder Jr. former
secretary of state John f. Kerry,
the party’s 2 004 nominee, also has
been mentioned, although people
close to him insist that he will not
enter the race.
The party’s 2016 nominee, Hil-
lary Clinton, was fielding calls in
recent days about whether to get
into the race, some close to her
said. While it is still unlikely that
she will run, some allies have gone
so far as to talk about a potential
pathway that would bypass Iowa
and New Hampshire and focus on
making a stand in South C arolina.
Bloomberg on friday an-
nounced a similar potential plan,
with an adviser saying that if
Bloomberg did run, he would not
aggressively compete in the first
four states, an un or tho dox strate-
gy t hat, for those who have tried it,
has led to electoral defeat. The
announcement suggested that
Bloomberg planned to uncork his
campaign for the march 3 Super
Tuesday p rimaries, at w hich p oint
the race covers m ultiple states at a
staggering cost to candidates.
“The late timing of our entry
means that many candidates al-
ready have a big head start in the
four early states, where they’ve
spent months and months cam-
paigning and spending money,”
said the Bloomberg adviser, How-
ard Wolfson. “We have enormous
respect for t he Democratic prima-
ry process and many friends in
those states, but our plan is to run
a broad-based, national cam-
paign.”
The decision quickly drew
scorn from early-state officials,
with New Hampshire Democratic
Party chairman ray Buckley say-
ing they were “disappointed and
frankly very surprised” by
Bloomberg’s m ove.
“It’s unfortunate that michael
Bloomberg doesn’t w ant to partic-
ipate in this invaluable, i mportant

democrAts from A

Potential Bloomberg run

spurs Democratic debate

The Washington Post - 09.11.2019

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