Fat cat candidates shake up race to be US president

Washington, Feb. 14: They’re flooding the airwaves with campaign ads targeting Donald Trump. And they’re paying for them with their own money.

Billionaires Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in their efforts to win the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. And so far, it seems like that strategy is working.

Bloomberg — who skipped the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary — is mounting in nationwide polls, while Steyer is gaining ground in South Carolina, a key state that votes later this month.

But some of their rivals are crying foul, accusing them of corrupting the party’s contest for the right to take on Trump in November.

“He’s part of the problem,” frontrunner Bernie Sanders said in an interview with SiriusXM radio.

“Look: Bloomberg — anybody else in America — has the right to run for president, but I think in a democracy, you do not have the right to buy the presidency.”

From when he entered the White House race in November until end of

2019, the 77-year-old Bloomberg, a media mogul and former New York mayor, spent about

$200 million of his own money on ads, his campaign said.

According to tracking firm Advertising Analytics, he spent more than $300 million through early February.

“It’s completely unique. There’s been nothing like this in the history of American politics,” said Bill Sweeney, an expert on politics at American University.

Bloomberg — the ninth richest person in the world, according to Forbes with a net worth of more than $55 billion — has shaken up the Democratic presidential campaign.

While most other contenders have been on the trail for more than a year meeting voters, the ad blitz by the one-time Republican has already had a serious impact.

Bloomberg is now running third in nationwide polls behind Sanders and former vice-president Joe Biden, according to an average compiled by RealClearPolitics.

Of course, polls at this stage of the game are to be taken with a grain of salt, because the race really is a state-by-state affair.

But even on that level, Bloomberg is investing, building a vast grassroots staff and setting up campaign offices. Some of his rivals cannot afford to match such a presence.

Bloomberg is looking ahead to Super Tuesday on March 3, when voters in 14 states will cast their ballots. He will also formally skip the Nevada caucuses and the South Carolina primary.