110819 504
Michael Bloomberg has reached out to a senior Iowa Democrat in a sign that the billionaire former New York City mayor is planning a presidential campaign.
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack told The Associated Press that Bloomberg telephoned him Thursday evening as reports were emerging that he was weighing a campaign. Bloomberg left a voicemail indicating he plans to run.
Bloomberg aides say he has made calls to prominent Democrats but has not made a final decision to run for president.
Three Democratic Presidential candidates will campaign in Northwest Iowa this weekend. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Colorado Senator Michael Bennet will make appearances in Sioux City and Orange City.
Michael Bennet is meeting with potential caucus-goers this evening at 5:30 at Jackson Street Brewing. Asked this morning about the tariff battle that President Trump set off with China, Bennet said Trump was right to question the trade imbalance with China. But, Bennet says the president did so in a terribly clumsy way.
And put farmers and ranchers in my state and the farmers in Iowa right in the crosshairs of people around the world who saw them as an opportunity to take retribution against the United States.
On other policy matters, Bennet would like to see a more moderate immigration policy that would allow for a wall but also call for modern monitoring equipment. Bennet also differs from some of the Democratic candidates in that he doesn’t think dismantling private health insurance would work.
