Bloomberg focuses on swing voters in first appearance of 2020 campaign

NORFOLK, Va. — Michael Bloomberg debuted his 2020 presidential campaign here on Monday, making his first public appearance since declaring his candidacy online the day before.

The billionaire businessman and former New York City mayor said his choice to begin campaigning in Norfolk, home to the world’s largest naval base, was aimed at appealing to swing voters in heavily conservative areas. He argued that his mayoral experience, combined with his knowledge of President Donald Trump’s politics, gave him a unique appeal to conservative southern Virginians, especially after a series of decisive wins for Democrats in the state.

Members of the media and curious bystanders outnumbered the Bloomberg supporters who showed up for his campaign event, held at a local coffee shop. He met with and spoke to about a dozen people, most of them leaders in the local Democratic Party. Outside, one protester held up a yellow Gadsden flag, the emblem of Second Amendment supporters and the Tea Party.

Bloomberg’s official entry into the race was preceded by a massive $34 million ad buy on Friday, one of the largest in the history of political advertising. The ads, which have begun to saturate markets in 48 of the 50 states, aim to emphasize the middle-class upbringing of Bloomberg News’ 77-year-old owner and contrast it with Trump’s familial wealth and his unwillingness to disclose his tax returns.

However, Bloomberg’s emphasis on his humble beginnings hasn’t stopped criticism from his opponents, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who recently accused him of buying his way into the race to take down more-progressive candidates.

“For years I’ve been using my resources for the things that matter to me,” Bloomberg told reporters after the event on Monday. “I was using my money to turn Virginia from red to blue, and a lot of it was because of the monies that we provided. I’m going to make my case and let the voters, who are plenty, smart make their choice.”

Norfolk, a military stronghold of the Virginia tidewater region, is home to some 70,000 retired and active-duty service members, who account for one-third of the city’s population. Bloomberg’s appeal to military families, who are largely supportive of Trump, appears to be a longshot, given his wealth, his switch from being a Republican and his governing experience in New York City.

However, Democrats’ wins in the Virginia House of Delegates election earlier this month flipped the state from red to blue for the first time in 30 years — proof, to any candidate, of its potential in 2020. With 124 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, Virginia is a heavyweight in the nomination contest — part of the reason why a latecomer like Bloomberg is choosing to skip the early primary states and aim for big wins on Super Tuesday.

After meeting with voters in the coffee shop, Bloomberg sat down with Nancy Guy, a Democrat newly elected to the House of Delegates by a narrow margin. The funding she received from Beyond Carbon, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ climate-change campaign, helped her push through a slew of campaign ads for the final three weeks of her election, which she said contributed to her victory.

Bloomberg’s campaign is centered on gun violence and climate change, the same issues his organizations have helped other candidates with financially. But the main challenge — defeating Trump — is something he said he felt uniquely qualified to accomplish.

“If you remember at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia in 2016, I said that Donald Trump was not suited to be president of the United States,” Bloomberg said on Monday. “Unfortunately, I guess not enough people listened to me. We have to do something about Donald Trump. I think I know how to beat him.”

Amelia Ross-Hammond, a former Virginia Beach city councilwoman and a member of the Democratic Party here, said she got a call early Monday morning alerting her to the event in Norfolk. Details such as time and location were kept a secret until then. She said Bloomberg’s choice to come to Norfolk first was “exciting” for residents of the area, who don’t often receive visits from presidential candidates.

“He’s done wonderful things for New York, and I believe he can bring some of that blueprint,” Ross-Hammond said. “I know he’s coming in late, but right now he has an opportunity to be in the race and I wish him the best. Coming to Norfolk, it’s a big deal.”

Bloomberg’s next campaign appearance will be in Phoenix, Ariz., a strategic stop because of Arizona’s large Latino population. When asked about his challenges with minority voters, he said he believed that his track record — beyond the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy, which disproportionately targeted young minority men — would appeal to Latinos.

“I worked very hard in minority communities, brought the crime rate down and saved an awful lot of lives of people who unfortunately, due to high crime, we would’ve lost a lot of young people,” Bloomberg said. “I’ve never done everything perfectly, but I did the best job I could.”