Mike Bloomberg spends $5M on last-minute 'Vote Democratic' ad campaign

Billionaire media mogul Mike Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, is spending big to send a "Vote Democratic" message in a last-minute national TV ad campaign leading up to the midterm elections on Tuesday. In a two-minute spot titled "Higher Purpose," he doesn't explicitly mention President Trump, though a shot of the current occupant of the Oval Office appears briefly as Bloomberg speaks about his general disappointment with Washington politics. After calling out what he calls "fear-mongering over immigration," Bloomberg, at the ad's three-quarter mark, says, "I've never been a particularly partisan person. I've supported candidates from both sides. But at this moment, we must send a signal to Republicans in Washington that they have failed to lead, failed to find solutions and failed to bring us together. That's why I'm voting Democratic." He doesn't mention any specific candidates by name, but makes it clear that he blames Republicans—who, of course, control both houses of Congress as well as the White House—for Washington's current dysfunction. The spot was produced by the Bloomberg-backed IndependenceUSA PAC. So far, according to iSpot.tv, it's aired during "NFL Football" and "60 Minutes" on Sunday on CBS, as well as during Monday's "CBS This Morning," "Good Morning America" on ABC and "Today" on NBC. Outlay for ad placements has already zoomed past $1 million according to iSpot estimates, and The Washington Post reports that Bloomberg intends to spend a total of $5 million on the blitz. Bloomberg won the New York City mayoralty as a registered Republican, but changed his party affiliation to Independent in 2007 and Democratic in 2018.

Mike Bloomberg spends $5M on last-minute 'Vote Democratic' ad campaign

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