Billionaires have opinions. But why do we care?

The views of the mega-rich aren't inherently more valuable or newsworthy than those of working-class Americans

A billionaire.
(Image credit: Illustrated | stocksnapper/iStock, Larisa Glushkova/iStock, omyos/iStock)

The news that Michael Bloomberg has filed paperwork to enter the race for the Democratic nomination for president probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise. For nearly 20 years, a fawning media has often tossed out Bloomberg's name as someone who should vie for the White House, strangely convinced that who Americans really want to elect is a socially-moderate, fiscally-conservative New York billionaire.

Bloomberg himself has often entertained the notion. By one estimate, he's considered running at least five separate times over the years. In 2016, Bloomberg toyed for a minute with getting into the race as an independent candidate before deciding against it. (He has switched parties multiple times through the years, bouncing his registration from Democratic to Republican to independent and back again, seemingly only for personal gain rather than out of political conviction. Sound familiar?) Even this year, Bloomberg has been in a will-he, won't-he dance for months now.

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Neil J. Young

Neil J. Young is a historian and the author of We Gather Together: The Religious Right and the Problem of Interfaith Politics. He writes frequently on American politics, culture, and religion for publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, HuffPost, Vox, and Politico. He co-hosts the history podcast Past Present.