Michael Bloomberg is on track to outspend Obama's entire 2012 campaign — all before Super Tuesday


Michael Bloomberg's billionaire status is impossible to hide.
The former New York City mayor and Democratic presidential candidate may have entered the 2020 race months late, but he's more than making up for it with his excessive ad spending. Bloomberg's campaign is projected to spend upwards of $400 million by March, beating out what former President Barack Obama spent on his entire 2012 reelection bid, The New York Times reports via data from Advertising Analytics.
Bloomberg has barely been running for president for a month, and yet has already spent $128 million on TV ads and another $18 million for ads on Google and Facebook. That puts him on track to hit $400 million by the Super Tuesday primaries early next year — Bloomberg is focusing on those contests instead of the first four primaries and caucuses because of how late he entered the race. $400 million is just about how much Obama spent throughout his entire general election campaign in 2012. Bloomberg's ad spending also trumps President Trump's, at least on Google and YouTube, where he's spent more in the past month on ads than Trump has all year.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
All that money isn't just pushing a universal message, either. As the Times notes, Bloomberg's campaign said it "produced 160 versions of its ads on social media alone, reaching 15.5 million people in the first two weeks of December." One ad features a man from Pennsylvania noting how Trump is focusing on the state while other Democrats are apparently ignoring it, while others focus on similar swing states such as Wisconsin.
Bloomberg has yet to see a major poll bump from his spending spree, so we'll just have to wait and see if money really can buy an election.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants