{"id":5528,"date":"2009-10-24T07:03:59","date_gmt":"2009-10-24T12:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/?p=5528"},"modified":"2009-10-24T07:03:59","modified_gmt":"2009-10-24T12:03:59","slug":"not_one_but_two_asterisks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/archives\/2009\/10\/not_one_but_two_asterisks.html","title":{"rendered":"Not One But Two Asterisks"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a public figure, the prospect of earning a third opportunity to perform the second-toughest job in America brings with it a spine-stiffening sense of honor and the narcotic-like thrill of self-sacrifice. But this is not to say that spending more money than Ross Perot to accomplish that feat in any way betrays signs of weakness<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Michael R. Bloomberg, the Wall Street mogul whose fortune catapulted him into New York’s City Hall, has set another staggering financial record: He has now spent more of his own money than any other individual in United States history in the pursuit of public office.<\/p>\n

Newly released campaign records show the mayor, as of Friday, had spent $85 million on his latest re-election campaign, and is on pace to spend between $110 million and $140 million before the election on Nov. 3.<\/p>\n

That means Mr. Bloomberg, in his three bids for mayor, will have easily burned through more than $250 million — the equivalent of what Warner Brothers spent on the latest Harry Potter movie.<\/p>\n

The sum easily surpasses what other titans of business have spent to seek state or federal office. New Jersey’s Jon S. Corzine has plunked down a total of $130 million in two races for governor and one for United States Senate. Steve Forbes poured $114 million into his two bids for president. And Ross Perot spent $65 million in his quest for the White House in 1992 and $10 million four years later.<\/p>\n

. . .<\/p>\n

He has spent at least 14 times what his Democratic rival in the race, William C. Thompson Jr., has: $6 million.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The heady display of overwhelming force also provokes adulation from supporters and admirers<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Sanitation Department reported yesterday that Thompson’s campaign is facing a hefty $125,775 bill for plastering city property with 1,677 illegal campaign posters.<\/p>\n

. . .<\/p>\n

In contrast to Thompson, Bloomberg’s campaign has been cited for 70 violations.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See also: Bloomberg For Mayor 2009<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For a public figure, the prospect of earning a third opportunity to perform the second-toughest job in America brings with it a spine-stiffening sense of honor and the narcotic-like thrill of self-sacrifice. But this is not to say that spending more money than Ross Perot to accomplish that feat in any way betrays signs of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-follow_the_money","category-please_make_it_stop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5528"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5529,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5528\/revisions\/5529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}