With less than three months to go before the Iowa caucus kicks off the 2020 race, the field may be getting some new competition. Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is said to be preparing to enter the race, which would make him the 18th Democratic candidate.
But some of the remaining contenders may think an expanding field of candidates is a move in the wrong direction. Cory Booker’s press secretary, Sabrina Singh, told Cheddar on Friday, “I don’t know that the campaign needs another Democrat in the race.”
But another Democrat it may have, and a very wealthy one. Bloomberg, worth about $52.4 billion, according to a Forbes estimate, could be a major threat to former Vice President Joe Biden.
Singh said, “We really need someone out there that can unite the country, that can build a multiracial coalition.” Some, including Singh, question if Bloomberg is the man for that job.
Bloomberg had toyed with the idea of a 2020 run earlier this year but seemed to bow out due to Biden’s strength. As Biden falters, Bloomberg may see a chance.
Singh said the Booker campaign is mainly focused more on running a successful campaign, whether or not another contender enters the mix.
”What Cory [Booker] brings to the stage is very different than what Bloomberg brings,” said Singh. Booker “is the only candidate in this race that still lives in a low-income community: Newark” she added.
“We’re not going to mold our message to Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren,” she said. “We’re going to keep running a race that we believe, that we are very confident in and see our way through Iowa and beyond.”
Hard-fought to the end, the debt ceiling and budget cuts package is heading toward a crucial U.S. House vote as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy assemble a coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans to push it to passage over fierce blowback from conservatives and some progressive dissent.
The Republican speaker urged GOP skeptics Tuesday to look at “the victories” in the package he negotiated with President Joe Biden.
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has dementia, her family announced Tuesday.
Surrounded by dozens of cheering people in green clothes, Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill Tuesday to legalize recreational marijuana for people over the age of 21, making Minnesota the 23rd state to legalize the substance for adults.
Texas would expand what is considered an illegal public performance of sexual conduct, under a bill approved late Sunday by state lawmakers that drag artists fear will be used to criminalize their shows.
Russia's Interior Ministry on Monday issued an arrest warrant for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham following his comments related to the fighting in Ukraine.
A rare drone attack jolted Moscow early Tuesday, causing only light damage but forcing evacuations as residential buildings were struck in the Russian capital for the first time in the war against Ukraine.
President Joe Biden said the U.S. will consider sanctioning those responsible for the "tragic violation" of human rights.
Some House Democrats will have to vote for McCarthy's bill if enough conservative Republicans keep their word to oppose any compromise.
A South Carolina judge temporarily blocked the state's newly-imposed ban on abortion after six weeks.
