They say money can't buy happiness, but it seems it can buy a pseudo-endorsement.
A Morning Consult survey released Thursday found that 26 percent of Democratic primary voters believe former President Barack Obama has endorsed former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. There's just one problem with that notion — he hasn't.
Another 25 percent of those surveyed said Obama has endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, a reasonable assumption given their eight years in office together. But Obama hasn't endorsed Biden, either. In fact, Obama has very purposefully stayed away from the Democratic primary, choosing not to endorse any candidate (though he did demand South Carolina TV networks pull an anti-Biden ad that used his words to "mislead" viewers).
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So where are voters getting the idea that Bloomberg has Obama's blessing? As Morning Consult notes, Bloomberg's sweeping network of political ads, totaling roughly $410 million, per The New York Times, has sought to tie the former mayor to Obama despite their relatively distant relationship. One ad spot highlights pictures of the two leaders, saying Bloomberg and Obama "worked together" to combat gun violence and improve education. The Washington Post says the Bloomberg-Obama relationship was actually quite "complicated" compared to the ad's portrayal.
"An endorsement from Obama would likely be a game-changer for any of the candidates," writes Morning Consult. Seems Bloomberg's campaign ad omnipresence is helping one candidate change the game for himself.
The Morning Consult poll was conducted Feb. 20-23, surveying 5,969 registered voters online. The survey's margin of error is ±1 percentage point.
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