LOS ANGELES — Michael Bloomberg is facing the worst-case scenario for his presidential campaign.
After spending a half million dollars on his long-shot White House bid, the former New York City mayor is finding out that money can’t buy you delegate viability.
In states such as North Carolina and Virginia, Bloomberg may not earn a single delegate, as he received less than 15% of the vote. Those two states were where his voter turnout operation was the largest, but it seems that it was no match for Joe Biden.
Moderate voters on the fence seemed to go for Biden once they entered polling booths, seemingly trusting the faith of the entire Democratic political establishment over a glitzy ad campaign put out by Bloomberg.
In Virginia, Bloomberg spent $5.6 million. To put that in perspective, Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s PAC spent the second-most in the state, at $346,000. Biden, who handily won the state, spent just $173,000.
North Carolina was even more expensive for the billionaire. In that state, he spent $12.8 million on ads. Sanders spent the second-most, $1.7 million.
Only in American Samoa, a Super Tuesday caucus that awards six delegates, did Bloomberg get his win.
Before results came out, Bloomberg told reporters he had “no expectations” for Super Tuesday. That may have been for the best.
“I have no intention of dropping out,” he said. “We’re in it to win it. I don’t understand why you would not ask other candidates that,” adding that instead of him taking votes that would go to Biden, “Joe’s taking votes away from me.”
