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Micheal Bloomberg

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Home > Politicians & Elections 2020 > Presidential Race -> Michael Bloomberg

1. Spent one billion of his own money ( Link )
   • Michael Bloomberg is the former mayor of New York and a billionaire businessman.
   • Bloomberg switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in 2018 and spent millions to elect Democrats that year.
   • The richest man to run for president, Bloomberg is self-funding his campaign and refusing to accept contributions.

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James R. & Kathryn A. Murdoch

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Politico

Kathryn Murdoch: ‘We’re really excited to back whoever the nominee is’

 

( Link )

1. When your father-in-law is Rupert Murdoch — the mogul whose media empire has fanned a brush fire of conservative populism into a global political movement and whose Fox News arguably has more influence over U.S. politics than any outlet in American history — people have preconceptions about who you are and what you believe.
2. And the trap is this: Because you’re a Murdoch — because whispers about your family life are fodder for endless gossip columns, your public outings are dogged by paparazzi, and any suggestion of political disagreement with your relatives is treated as evidence of some intrafamilial schism with major business implications — your tendency is to stay quiet, to avoid weighing in about what’s been said about you and what people assume you actually think.
3. Even so, if you’re Kathryn Murdoch, there comes a time when you have to speak out.
4. “There’s always a difference between what gets seen out in the public and what is actually happening in a family or behind the scenes,” Murdoch said in an interview for POLITICO’s Women Rule podcast. “I would say there’s a diversity of opinion on all of those things within the family, as there are in many families. There’s no line that everyone has to adhere to, or cross, or anything like that.”
5. Going public with her own views, however, is new territory. “I’m still learning how to navigate that,” Murdoch said, referring to herself as a “radical centrist.” At first, “I took a step back and have not been public at all. … This is the first time where I’ve really decided that I have a voice and I need to try to use it.”
6. The change comes at what Murdoch sees as a “make or break” moment for both American democracy and climate change, the two causes to which she’s devoting herself — and investing $100 million of her own money.
7. “The decisions we make in the next few years are going to have an impact on coming generations,” Murdoch said. “I need to know that I’ve done everything that I can possibly do.”
8. Speaking with POLITICO’s Anna Palmer, Murdoch cited the lack of legislative progress on climate change, “reasonable” gun control measures and a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers — immigrants brought the country illegally as children — as examples of what she calls the “root cause” of political dysfunction: a system in which entrenched politicians and special interests force outcomes divorced from what a broad consensus of voters would like to see. Murdoch plans on spending $100 million to back political-reform proposals, with an eye toward expanding the use of ranked-choice voting, nonpartisan redistricting commissions and open primaries.
9. Of course, you can’t talk about the partisan divide without at least acknowledging the role Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News has played in defining conservatism and voicing an approach to politics that is sometimes unmoored from basic, agreed-upon facts, like the existence of climate change.
10. Kathryn Murdoch can relate to the proverbial family arguments between those who acknowledge climate change is real and those who, fed a steady diet of climate science denialism, rebut its existence. The difference is that instead of simply watching Fox News, her family owns a major portion of it.
11. “Nothing has changed,” she said of political disagreement within the Murdoch clan. “Our views two days ago are exactly the same as they were when I first started to learn about climate change 14 years ago.”
12. Katheryn Murdoch: Right now is a moment where we’re going to make it or break it on a number of different issues. I think that’s true for our democracy, and I think that’s true for our climate. The decisions we make in the next few years are going to have an impact on coming generations, and I need to know that I’ve done everything that I can possibly do.We’re told that there’s a huge amount of polarization in our country — and certainly, it feels that way if you read the news, [or] if you’re on Twitter. But if you actually look at the polling, there’s a huge amount of consensus around even the most contentious issues.So polls on reasonable gun reform: There’s anywhere from 90 to 94 percent agreement on that. Even things like immigration, which are hot-button issues: 80 percent of Americans believe that we should have a path to citizenship for the Dreamers. So there’s all of these contentious issues, and a lot more consensus than we think, but we’re not getting the results out of politics. And the question is why?So we look at the root cause and say, “OK, it’s partly because the politicians are no longer representing the people — they’re representing generally the extremes of their party and special interests that put money there.”
13. Murdoch Last Name?
    • Palmer: Do you think there is a double-edged sword of having the Murdoch last name? That you have this platform, but at the same time, no matter what you do on these issues, it’s always going to be in comparison to Rupert Murdoch?
    • Murdoch: There is, but I’m also very aware that I’m in charge of me, what I do. I’m in charge of our foundation. I’m in charge of the work that we choose to support, and that is what I can control and that’s what I’m going to wield to the best of my abilities.
14. Why Politics
    • Palmer: I’m curious: When did you personally start getting interested in politics? What piqued your interest?
    • Murdoch: It was the root-cause issue, really. No matter what big issue you are working on: If you’re working on education, you’re dealing with the government. If you’re working on immigration, you’re dealing with the government. If you’re working on climate change, you’re dealing with the government. And if the government isn’t functioning properly, you just can’t get those things done. You can’t be as effective at helping people as you want to be. And I’m not alone in finding that.
15. Climate Change
    • Palmer: One of your other big causes is climate change. I understand that your involvement started after you heard a speech by Al Gore?
    • Murdoch: Yes.
    • Palmer: What did he say? Take us inside that room.
    • Murdoch: Well, I’m sad to say that I’m somebody who does respond to a PowerPoint. [Laughter.] And that’s what he had. It was compelling data, and it was put together things that I hadn’t put it into one place before. And I decided, after watching that, that I wanted to change everything. I was running a business. I wanted to figure out how to make that business sustainable. I wanted to focus on science, communications and try to help in that fight as much as I could. And I really changed my whole life around it.Unfortunately, [Gore] was a good messenger for me, but not for others. And that was sort of the beginning of the polarization and the politicization of climate change. And it’s a bittersweet thing, because he opened a lot of eyes and he closed a lot of minds.
    • Palmer: On that note, last question: Do you have any interest in running for office yourself?Murdoch: Definitely not! [Laughs]Palmer: Why not?Murdoch: I think it’s difficult for someone in the position that I’m in to be able to go out and expect people to relate to what my ideas are, I suppose. Oh … and I’m going to stumble through this one.What I do think is that we expect a lot of women — we expect a perfection level out of women that is basically impossible to meet. We need to look good and kick-ass, but not too kick-ass, and don’t be shrill, and be smart but not too smart. Make sure you cook, but take care of the kids. There’s sort of all of these incredible conflicting things. And my hat’s off to the women that are running right now. They’re doing an amazing job of actually being able to do all of those things.
16.  Politicking & Governance
    • Murdoch:- But the skill sets needed to win elections are often separate from the skill sets needed to govern. And that’s something that I think is a fundamental issue that we need to figure out — and that one I don’t have an answer for.

Links

1. Politico
   • Kathryn Murdoch: ‘We’re really excited to back whoever the nominee is’
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Honorable Mention

I have to dedicate this post to Kathryn Murdoch.