On November 24th, Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York and self-made billionaire announced his candidacy for President. “I’m running for president to defeat Donald Trump and rebuild America. We cannot afford four more years of President Trump’s reckless and unethical actions. He represents an existential threat to our country and our values,” he said in a television ad released Sunday morning. His announcement comes after months of speculation and mounting evidence that his ultimate intention was to run. In a masterstroke of political brinkmanship, Bloomberg waited till many of the Democratic candidates were weekend by critical news reports and poor debate performances, with his spokesperson Howard Wolfsan previously stating, "Mike is increasingly concerned that the current field of candidates is not well positioned to” beat Trump. Harry Reid, former Senator, all but confirmed Bloomberg’s intentions while speaking with the New York Times, saying that he had received a call from Bloomberg, in which he had implied he would run for president even without explicitly saying so. “[The call] wasn’t just to wish me a good weekend,” Reid said.

Bloomberg plans to skip the first four primaries and caucuses, leaving Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina off the table and instead focusing on the major Super Tuesday states. While Bloomberg’s ultimate success in the Democratic nomination is anything but certain, his ascendance could quickly spell trouble for the Biden candidacy. Both Bloomberg and Biden will be vying for the same moderate Democratic vote, which could lead to the unraveling of both campaigns and pave the way for a more liberal nominee (Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren). While the ultimate outcome of the Democratic nominating process is far from certain, the arrival of Bloomberg adds a thrilling dynamic to the 2020 primaries.