By spending $85 million on his third mayoral campaign so far, Mayor Bloomberg entered the history books. The NY Times proclaims, "He has now spent more of his own money than any other individual in United States history in the pursuit of public office," and say the billionaire "is on pace to spend between $110 million and $140 million before the election on Nov. 3."
The way the Daily News calculates it, Bloomberg has basically spent $1 million a day on his campaign. Bloomberg campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said, "We are not going to spend a dime more than we have to. We are going to spend what we need to in order to be successful in this election. That's the goal."
Well, the Times points out that while much of the money is spent on TV, radio, and Internet advertising, "much of it bankrol ls a first-class approach to parties, snacks and travel. The campaign has spent $322,521 on food, $293,953 on transportation, $176,066 on furniture and $39,858 on parking... With more than 100 employees, his campaign now has a staff larger than 97 percent of all businesses in New York City."
NYPIRG staff attorney Gene Russianoff said, "Whether Bloomberg wins or loses, the toxic combination of mega-spending and crass use of his office to bypass the voters on term limits will always be a stain on his mayoralty." And the campaign of Bloomberg's Democratic challenger, Bill Thompson, called the spending "obscene" and noted that it had received donations from over 3,000 people in the past three weeks. Those donations added up to $270,000 is half as much as Mark Green and Fernando Ferrer raised in the same period in 2001 and 2005.
The Times' editorial board also endorsed Bloomberg today: "The Democratic nominee, Comptroller William Thompson, is a worthy opponent. Mr. Thompson has been a competent comptroller in a turbulent period and is a quiet, conciliatory man. But he has spent too much of his campaign attacking Mayor Bloomberg rather than explaining how he would manage the city, and Mr. Bloomberg is simply the stronger candidate... We enthusiastically endorse Mayor Michael Bloomberg for re-election."
