ABC(NEW YORK) — Even as most 2020 contenders gear up for the Iowa caucuses, they’ve got a weather eye on the March horizon: Super Tuesday. While many look forward on the calendar, though, Mike Bloomberg is already all over the map.
Starting Monday, Bloomberg’s campaign will be swelling its already aggressive ground game even further, telling ABC News exclusively that it will begin sending out its first mailers — yes, physical paper letters — to 2.5 million registered Democratic voters across every single Super Tuesday state. That’s a lot of postage.
The campaign’s move pays unprecedented attention on parts of the country that normally get neglected during the Democratic primary process, especially this early on. And with Bloomberg making stops in Vermont and Maine on Monday afternoon, he will have visited every Super Tuesday state before most of his rivals have left Iowa.
The letters are part of Bloomberg’s unorthodox, innovative strategy, which he’s taken from the start in his late bid for the White House. He bypassed the four early states altogether and has focused on delegate-rich spots up for grabs in March, like Texas, California and Florida. Moreover, he’s specifically honing in on the swing states President Donald Trump picked up in 2016 that Democrats “should” have won, like Ohio or Michigan.
Bloomberg’s energetic efforts at outreach demonstrate an immense appetite for seeking voters where they live, and showing his commitment. His campaign’s first mailers further that courtship; they’re an acknowledgement and respect for a constituency that may often feel overlooked by those who eventually come calling for their votes.
Bloomberg has poured unparalleled sums of his vast fortune into his campaign, already spending $270 million on advertising from coast to coast and in key battleground states. The timing on the letters Bloomberg will send out Monday also could not be more germane — they come on the eve of the Iowa Caucuses. They will also arrive at people’s homes just before the Super Bowl. Bloomberg has purchased a multi-million dollar 60-second spot to air in high-profile slots during the game, dueling with Trump’s own ad buy.
Bloomberg has also pledged that even if he does not get the Democratic nomination, he and his assets will stay in the race to help boost whoever does win, which he has said is an “investment” in beating Trump.
First, though, Bloomberg hopes his investment — wooing support with outreach like this letter — will pay off for his campaign on the very turf that Trump hopes to keep come the 2020 election.
The letter is meant to “introduce Mike [Bloomberg] to America,” according to a campaign aide. In an ABC exclusive first look, the page speaks to Bloomberg’s accomplishments over the years, from his tenure as mayor to his philanthropic work. With a flourished signature at the bottom, Bloomberg expands this past forward as a pledge to voters.
“As a three-term mayor of the biggest and one of the most diverse cities in the country, I know how to get things done,” Bloomberg begins. “Believe me when I say from personal experience: There is no problem we cannot solve by working hard and working together.”
Bloomberg’s call for unity comes with a broad promise to grow good jobs and wages to match; protect social security and Medicare; pass common-sense gun reform; and confront the climate crisis. Most of all, it’s a rallying cry as he prepares to confront Trump should he get nominated.
“The biggest fight of our lives lies ahead — a fight to beat Trump and rebuild America,” Bloomberg wrote. “So let’s get it done.”
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