American Samoa: They Got it Right.

Pago Pago, American Samoa—

American Samoan caucus participants, all 351 of them, overwhelmingly voted for the candidate we think would have had the best chance of beating Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Fifty percent of the American Samoan Democrats, all 175 of them, voted for Michael Bloomberg, who only spent $904 advertising there. No doubt, the endorsement of Samoan Chief Fa’alagiga Nina Tua’au-Glaude helped put Bloomberg over the top. So strong was Bloomberg’s support, he even trounced American Samoa’s native daughter, Tulsi Gabbard.

 But, alas, American Samoa’s overwhelming support was not enough to propel Bloomberg over the top in last Tuesday’s national primary extravaganza.  

Seriously, we believe Michael Bloomberg would have been a remarkably effective candidate against Donald Trump, notwithstanding this diminutive, former New York Mayor’s stop-and-frisk baggage, and the flogging he took over his firm’s non-disclosure agreements. The American Samoans embraced a brilliant, super achiever who, this writer believes, would have brought both wisdom and sound and well-reasoned decision making back to the oval office. 

Bloomberg’s accomplishments are really quite remarkable. He was first elected Mayor of New York immediately following the devastation of 911. He was called upon to run a huge and damaged city, which he did quite adroitly. As mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg had to perform quickly and competently. In the process, he earned the support and praise of virtually all ethnicities as well as the general electorate during his three terms in office. 

Under Michael Bloomberg’s leadership, New York City was like Phoenix rising out of the ashes. On 911 about 23,000 people lived in relatively close proximity to the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan’s financial district. One would have expected residents to flee the area. Instead, within a few years, under Bloomberg’s confidence-building leadership, the population tripled in the troubled financial district. He opened five new school buildings adding more than 4300 new classroom seats. He built baseball and soccer fields, basketball and beach volleyball courts and playgrounds, picnic grounds, bicycle lanes, the enormously popular highline, pedestrian plazas, esplanades and brought outdoor concerts and public art and even miniature golf to the area. Lower Manhattan is booming and Mayor Bloomberg deserves most of the credit. On a recent visit to lower Manhattan I could not help but be impressed by the vibrancy of the area. New hotels, parks, restaurants and crowds of young New Yorkers were everywhere simply enjoying their city.

The rise of the tech industry is also evident throughout lower Manhattan. In the years following 911 more than 600 tech companies employing thousands of people had cropped up everywhere throughout the area. It’s easy to forget that New York City lost more than 100,000 jobs in the aftermath of 911, but under Mike Bloomberg’s leadership private sector jobs were up over 400,000 a short time later.

Bloomberg is the real article; a self-made billionaire and a dedicated philanthropist who has, for years, contributed billions of hard-earned dollars to very worthwhile causes. No one gave Michael Bloomberg anything. He started from scratch, built a data-driven business providing real, tangible value to other businesses, and became one of the wealthiest men in the world in the process. Few entrepreneurs have earned so much and given away so much of what they earned. Today, his company employs 20,000 well paid workers.

While there will never be a President Bloomberg, Bloomberg is now committed to doing everything he can to help elect Joe Biden President of the United States. Biden’s biggest nemesis won’t be Donald Trump. It will be Joe Biden, or better stated, the Biden gaffe’s yet to come. Then, again, Biden will be running against a gaffer who will see him and raise him one throughout the coming campaign. 

And if the reader has grown sick of hearing Hunter Biden’s name brought up by President Trump at every opportunity, hold on to your hat, because President Trump will run against Joe Biden by regurgitating Hunter Biden’s name at every opportunity. Make false allegations often enough and people will come to believe them. (Quiz: Who taught us that?)

Hunter Biden’s service on the board of Ukrainian gas company, Burisma, was foolish and unseemly, but from all evidence to date, not illegal. He most certainly benefited from his family’s name. Sons and daughters and other relatives with meager talent trade on their family names all the time. In the 2020 election, Hunter Biden should be a minuscule issue of little importance. President Trump, however, will work hard to make Hunter a major issue. Trashing people is, after all, something the President does with abandon whenever it suits him. Think John McCain, Jim Mattis, Rex Tillerson, Jeff Seasons, Kirstjen Nielsen, Megan Kelly, Shepard Smith, Meryl Streep, Gold Star father, Khizr Khan and, well, anyone who displeases him.

So, it looks like it will be Trump against Biden. There will never be a Mike Bloomberg presidency and that seems to suit most Democrats just fine—most, but not all. There are the Pago Pago Democrats in American Samoa. We think they got it right.