Michael Bloomberg is off to an attention-grabbing start
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In just three weeks, billionaire Michael Bloomberg has captured a level of media attention that's eluded most 2020 Democrats with months on the trail and in debates.
The big picture: Recent stories about Bloomberg generated more social media interactions than Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, Julián Castro or Tom Steyer have ever gotten, according to data from NewsWhip provided exclusively to Axios.
- On Nov. 8, the day after it was first reported that Bloomberg was preparing to enter the race, he was mentioned more on cable news than any Democratic candidate other than Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders on a single day this year, according to the Internet Archive Television News Archive.
- In November, Bloomberg has been mentioned more on cable news than every candidate except Biden and Elizabeth Warren.
- Bloomberg's mentions this month on cable news (4,486) have more than doubled Yang's throughout his entire campaign (2,167). Yet, Yang is polling ahead of Bloomberg.
- For each of the last three weeks, stories about Bloomberg have generated more interactions (comments, likes, shares) on social media than another billionaire candidate, Tom Steyer, has ever gotten in the race.
Be smart: Bloomberg is packaging this earned media with an unprecedented self-funded multi-million dollar television advertising blitz, giving the former New York mayor, businessman and philanthropist an unparalleled ability to reach voters.
Yes, but: For all the buzz, Bloomberg so far is at just 3 percent in a CNN poll released Wednesday — and 2.5 percent in the RealClear Politics average of six surveys conducted during the past two weeks.
By the numbers: The biggest wave of attention for Bloomberg came on the week of the New York Times report that he was preparing to jump in.
- While some of the early coverage has touched on Bloomberg's vulnerabilities with women and minority voters, the sentiment of the 10 biggest stories about Bloomberg was neutral and straightforward
- New Poll Has Michael Bloomberg Beating Donald Trump By Six Points - Daily Caller (113k interactions)
- Michael Bloomberg prepares for a presidential bid - NBC News (109k interactions)
- Michael Bloomberg Is Expected to File for the Alabama 2020 Presidential Primary - NYT (88k)
Our 2020 attention tracker is based on data from NewsWhip exclusively provided to Axios as part of a project that will regularly update throughout the 2020 campaign.
Go deeper: See all past editions of the tracker here.
