Are Billionaire Presidents the Wave of the Future?

Political parties are shaped by the candidate that wins the presidential election. It is hard to imagine for many what the democratic party would look like with a Bloomberg presidency. Mayor Mike Bloomberg is so wealthy that he does not need donations nor billionaire sponsors. In fact, he is the billionaire sponsor. The New York Times actually took an in-depth look into Bloomberg’s history of donations and it is estimated he has donated over 10 billion dollars in charitable and political donations. He is the wealthiest candidate to ever run for president and actually is wealthier than all former presidents combined, inflation included. For reference, Trump was the first billionaire president ever elected with a net-worth of 3 billion dollars and Bloomberg has a net-worth of 65 billion dollars.

Due to his unfathomable wealth, Bloomberg has turned down political donations and a potential presidential salary. He has also spent hundreds of millions of his own money on campaign ads and has been accused by Bernie Sanders of trying to “buy the presidency.” It is understandable that people are worried that someone so wealthy could essentially take all the power they want. However, as political scientist John Aldrich said, “the major political party is the creature of the politicians, the partisan activist, and the ambitious office seeker and officeholder.” If Bloomberg could just buy an election, why would he run for the democratic nomination instead of as an independent?

The one thing that a billionaire presidential candidate can’t buy is the support of interest groups and activists in the party system. Bawn et al explain this concept through their research on how interest groups affect nominations. Regarding this topic they said, “forming coalitions to control nominations is an effective way for policy demanders to get what they want out of government.” Bloomberg may not need special interest groups for their money but he does need them for their support. These coalitions, interest groups, policy-demanders, and activists together form a party and they are essential for someone to get the party nomination. These groups are looking for a candidate that is going to be loyal to their party agenda.

On some level, however, parties exist because presidential candidates want them to exist. That means the special interest groups that make up a party are indeed valuable to presidential candidates for getting elected. Bloomberg and other potential billionaire candidates might have all the money in the world but, according to Bawn et al, without the support from these special interest coalitions they will have a slim chance of winning. It seems unlikely that parties will support a candidate solely based on charisma or wealth. These groups want a candidate who is committed to the principals of the party and has proven loyalty over time.  

While policy-demanding groups don’t always “succeed in controlling parties by controlling nominations,” there is evidence from Bawn et al that they often succeed. The strength of these special interest coalitions within a party should give people hope that billionaires cannot buy their way to the presidency. The scholar E.E. Schattschneider believed that parties solve resource inequality by making it possible for more numerous groups to beat out wealthier ones. While he may not have been thinking of a Bloomberg one-man lobby group with 65 billion dollars, the concept still applies. Billionaires can buy anything they want but they can’t just buy the support of special interest groups.

Sources

Aldrich, John H. 1995. “Why Parties?” Chicago: University of Chicago Press.1 May 2011,             www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo11315021.html.

Bawn, Kathleen, et al. “A Theory of Political Parties: Groups, Policy Demands and Nominations in American Politics: Perspectives on Politics.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, 16 Aug. 2012, www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/theory-of-political-parties-groups-policy-demands-and-nominations-in-american-politics/2F7996D5365C105C3B91CD56E6A1FAA3.

“Bloomberg Vows to Refuse Donations and Presidential Salary.” CNBC, CNBC, 23 Nov. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/11/23/bloomberg-vows-to-refuse-donations-and-presidential-salary.html.

Heer, Jeet. “Bloomberg Is Creating a Party of One.” The Nation, 19 Feb. 2020, www.thenation.com/article/politics/bloomberg-democratic-nomination-buy/.

Kelsey, Adam, and Michelle Stoddard. “Sanders: Bloomberg Is Attempting to 'Buy the Presidency.” ABC News, ABC News Network, abcnews.go.com/Politics/sanders-bloomberg-attempting-buy-presidency/story?id=69020719.

Schattschneider, E.E. 1960. “Semi-sovereign People.” New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

https://www.forbes.com/profile/michael-bloomberg/#76d74e3e1417

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/15/us/politics/bloomberg-donations-takeaways.html