Eric Risberg/AP Photo
Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg speaks before an event at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting, December 11, 2019, in San Francisco.
Michael Bloomberg entered the Democratic presidential race in good measure because he feared Joe Biden might continue to falter, thereby making it more possible that either Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren would win the nomination.
Which raises a question that Bloomberg should be made to answer: Is he willing to support the eventual Democratic nominee, whoever it may be? I have no doubt that Sanders and Warren will support a more centrist Democrat, a Biden or a Buttigieg, if they’re selected to run against Trump. But would Bloomberg support Sanders or Warren if that’s who the Democrats end up nominating? And if not—if he’s not willing to pledge he’ll abide by the results of the process—why should Democrats even consider him a Democrat, much less a candidate for the party’s nomination?
You’d think this would be the first question the media would ask Bloomberg. It’s the lowest possible bar a presidential candidate should have to clear. So how about it, fellow scribes? Let’s ask Mike.
