Billionaire Mike Bloomberg has begun pushing out his trove of opposition research on rival Bernie Sanders, unleashing a scathing ad taking on the taking him on for his opposition to some gun control measures
Bloomberg on Monday launched a new online ad that blasts Sanders for multiple votes against the Brady Bill, a key handgun control measure, and for accepting support from the National Rifle Association.
Sanders has cited the views of gun owners in his rural state, as he did in a presidential debate – only to have Bloomberg use his defense in the ad. A Bloomberg release quotes a surrogate, former Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake, saying Sanders is ‘not fighting for urban Americans at all.
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s is using its nearly unlimited resources to take on ‘frontrunner’ Bernie Sanders – launching a scathing online attack Monday on Sanders for opposing gun control measures, and pouring more resources into its multi-million TV ad blitz.
The effort was a signal that Bloomberg intends to use his 2,000-plus campaign staff and massive TV spending blitz – at $400 million and counting – to try to take on Sanders, who has mostly avoided getting hammered by rivals despite strong and consistent performance in the polls.
Mike Bloomberg’s campaign unloaded on Berne Sander Monday for opposition to a key gun control measure
Bloomberg is dispatching surrogates, digging up opposition research, and launching attack ads on the Internet and the TV airwaves, amid mounting pressure on the billionaire to take on the left-leaning frontrunner.
CNBC reported that senior Bloomberg aides are planning a broad effort against Sanders beyond the gun control attack.
After getting pummeled himself by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others on the debate stage in Las Vegas, Bloomberg took aim at a Sanders vulnerability – his past opposition to some gun control measures as well as support he garnered from the National Rifle Association.
Bloomberg has faced public pressure from political operatives to go after Sanders
Bloomberg and Sanders clashed in last week’s presidential debate in Las Vegas
Bloomberg’s new web ad and social media campaign savages Sanders for opposing gun control legislation
Bloomberg has footed a national campaign to combat the NRA
The scathing ad could represent the tip of the spear of an opposition research dump on Sanders, who won in Nevada Saturday
Sanders explained that many rural Vermont voters support gun rights
Sanders tried to brush off the criticism during an earlier debate, noting he represents a rural state where gun owners hold sway – and Bloomberg’s team used video of his defense in their own ad.
‘In 2005, I signed a local law allowing New Yorkers to sue gun manufacturers for criminal negligence. That same year, Bernie voted to give gun manufacturers IMMUNITY — overriding my efforts to make NYers safer. Care to explain, Bernie?’ Bloomberg tweeted Monday – kicking off a series of attacks.
Then he went after Sanders’ integrity. ‘The NRA paved the road to Washington for Bernie Sanders. He spent the next three decades making sure they got a return on their investment. We deserve a president who is not beholden to the gun lobby,’ Bloomberg wrote.
The attack comes as leading Democrats urged party power players to take on Sanders aggressively during the remaining window before Super Tuesday – after other candidates mostly trained fire on each other in candidate debates.
With several center lane candidates already out of the race, and more centrist support split among Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren, there is a chance Sanders could march to the nomination with a strong showing in South Carolina and Super Tuesday states, where there is a massive delegate haul at stake.
The urgency is apparent in the tone of Bloomberg’s new attack.
‘The NRA spent thousands of dollars to get Bernie Sanders elected to Congress and despite national efforts to end gun violence he continued to vote with them,’ said Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey in a statement. ‘He voted five times against the Brady Bill, which established background checks on firearm sales. He voted for an NRA-backed law that gave gunmakers sweeping immunity from legal action. He’s voted to allow guns on Amtrak, planes and in national parks. With gun violence becoming a regular part of American life Bernie Sanders stood on the sidelines. That’s why we need Mike Bloomberg who has shown time and time again he’s not afraid of taking on the NRA,’ he added.
Bloomberg made confronting the NRA a top cause during his three terms as New York mayor, and has funded a nationwide push for gun control measures. He touts that record in his own multi-million TV ad campaign.
The campaign also released statements from surrogates attacking Sanders. ‘There’s nothing from Sanders record that indicates he’s going to do anything to make gun violence a priority. He’s not fighting for urban Americans at all. It doesn’t make sense to vote for him,’ said former Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake, who is backing Bloomberg.
The ad quotes NRA executive Wayne LaPierre calling Sanders ‘a more honorable choice for Vermont sportsmen than’ his 1990 opponent, Republican Peter Smith.
Smith had switched positions and signed onto a bill to ban certain assault weapons. ‘The gun vote brought us down,’ Judy Shailor, Smith’s then-campaign manager, told the Washington Post years later.
Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-the-nra-helped-put-bernie-sanders-in-congress/2015/07/19/ed1be26c-2bfe-11e5-bd33-395c05608059_story.html
The move comes after Sanders dominated the field in the Nevada caucuses, and continues to enjoy loyal support from his followers even as a handful of centrist Democrats split votes.
The gun issue puts Sanders – who blasted Bloomberg’s own support for stop-and-frisk policing as ‘racist’ in a ’60 Minutes’ interview Sunday – on the defensive, after Bloomberg spent last week’s debate getting pummeled for past statements about women and for being a billionaire.