The situation Bloom
Who’d huddle with ‘Prez Mike’ in . . .
Oprah Winfrey was in the running to be Mike Bloomberg’s secretary of commerce during his last flirtation with the White House, in 2016 — alongside other big names for the ex-mayor’s would-be Cabinet.
An initial list also tapped fellow billionaires Bill Gates for secretary of state, Tesla CEO Elon Musk for energy secretary and Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett to run the Treasury Department, according to an account from Bloomberg adviser Bradley Tusk in his memoir, “The Fixer” (Portfolio/Penguin Random House), which hit bookstores this past week.
As Bloomberg once again reportedly mulls running for president — this time as a Democrat — his team’s early strategy in 2016 offers a glimpse into how a national Bloomberg campaign might look in 2020.
“He has a really unique opportunity to run a campaign that’s never been run before, and that’s what makes him potentially a really exciting presidential candidate,” Tusk told The Post.
There were other notable names on the first list of potential depart- ment heads Tusk drafted while he was helping manage Bloomberg’s exploration of an independent run for president two years ago.
He put down former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly for the FBI, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings for the Federal Communications Commission, and shooting survivor and former Rep. Gabby Giffords for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Unveiling Bloomberg’s Cabinet and top officials before the election was just one of the more unconventional campaign strategies Tusk proposed. He also got Uber to agree to help with get-out-thevote efforts and wanted to use Airbnb properties for lawn signs.
Ultimately Bloomberg decided to scrap the independent bid for president in March 2016, fearing he would bolsterol ster Donald Trump’s chances es of becom-becoming president.
“If I run, the chances chances of Trump winningng go up,” Bloomberg told d the team in early Marchh at their last meeting before efore he an-announced his decision, decision, according to Tusk. “If I don’t run, un, they don’t. Issue e settled.” This time Bloomberg’s team thinks the Democratic ticket is his best path to victory, but staffers in 2016 believed he was too liberal and too conservative for either party, according to Tusk. Bloomberg also considered independent runs for the White House in 2008 and 2012. He started eyeing another bid in January 2016 and was prepared to spend $1 billion of his massive fortune. Tusk, who managed Bloomberg’s last election, for mayor in 2009, took a leave from his own company and agreed to run the campaign if Bloomberg entered the race. Tusk set a deadline to decide by the first week of March, otherwise Bloomberg might not have gathered enough signatures to make the ballot in every state. Starting withwit Texas and North Carolina, Caroli crews were dispatched aacross the countrytry to collect colle signatures, Tusk writes in his memoir and how-to for startups. They conducted con polling in 22 states states, made a mock Web site, produced two TV ads, ad hired ballotaccess acc teams and local-lo election counsel, c re- searched Trump and rented offices in San Antonio, Houston, Raleigh and other cities.
Uber agreed to put a “Bloomberg button” on its app on Election Day and give every American free rides to and from the polls — with trip costs covered by the campaign.
The ride company’s then-CEO, Travis Kalanick, also offered up Uber’s top drivers for campaign work. And DoorDash delivery people would have slipped literature under doors during food runs.
Tusk is convinced these nontraditional approaches proposed in 2016 could bolster Bloomberg’s chances in 2020.
“Whether I’m involved or not, whether he runs or not, the goal is you have to be really creative and unconventional, cause that’s his strength — he’s not a typical politician,” Tusk said.
While Tusk has other ideas to shake up presidential politics — like mobile voting — he’s keeping quiet about most of them. For now, anyway.
“On the off chance I need them for 2020, I want to keep them close to the vest,” he said with a laugh.