75 Comments - Rich Miller - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:34 am: Advertisers occasionally choose to open comments on their posts. They do not control moderation, however. I maintain that control. And I will, as always, treat comments on this ad like any other post. - njt - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:36 am: I’d start by switching the banner ad since the campaign is over. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:38 am: You could ask, very nicely, if Rich will post pictures of Oscar as a nice Zen moment for everyone. It’d be like you’re paying for calm, in the storm of the next 8 days. - Tom B. - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:38 am: It’s coming down tomorrow. - LakeviewJ - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:38 am: Vacation tips for best places to visit in American Samoa? - Chicago Cynic - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:39 am: Can we post Tom Bowen glamour shots? - Seats - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:39 am: Use the posts to promote the graduated income tax amendment that Illinois will be voting on at the next Election. - repete - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:42 am: Provide some detail about how you plan to help secure the vote needed for Biden to win. - Sammiches - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:43 am: Kinda seems like you should put Biden stuff here - Grandson of Man - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:44 am: Since Illinois will almost certainly vote Democratic in the presidential election, promote the graduated income tax amendment. - Anon62704 - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:45 am: AMA with 2017 Golden Horseshoe Winner/Bloomberg Comms team member Galia Slayen - Frank talks - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:46 am: All White Sox all the time for 8 days!! - Pleaseandthankyou - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:46 am: Allowing not-for-profits to use the space for their underfunded advocacy campaigns here in Illinois - Tulsi - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:47 am: Use the space to advertise t-shirts saying “we spent all this ad money and all we got was American Samoa.” Then you can start to recoup costs. - BL - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:48 am: Photos of Maddux T Dogg - Norseman - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:49 am: Sounded like helping Biden is going to take some time to figure out the Fed Election law minefield. How about running the top 8 Trump Corrupt Highlights from your library? - Back to the Future - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:51 am: Give the paid space to Bernie. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:51 am: People, try to take the question a bit more seriously. Thanks. - Give Me A Break - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:52 am: Run a loop of Rich’s best trips down the Hill of Happy Hollow. - Hard D - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:53 am: Let’s find out why the state hasn’t starting dispersing money for the capital projects? How much have they collected since doubling the gas tax and when will it be released - Give Me A Break - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:53 am: Sorry Rich I posted before I saw your last post. - RIJ - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:55 am: Pleaseandthankyou, I like the idea. Get a wide variety of human and health services non-profits from all over the state. I’m sure we’d all have suggestions. I nominate the Quad City Animal Welfare Center in Milan. - Back to the Future - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:56 am: My bad. Perhaps donate the space to a charity like the United Way. - Steve Rogers - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 10:59 am: Back to the Future beat me: pick 8 worthy charities for each day with links to donate. - South of Sherman - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:00 am: Maybe a series of posts reaching out to Sanders supporters about why it’s really in their interests to get behind Biden rather than risk four more years of Trump. Or maybe encouraging the creative minds of CapFax commenters to come up with the best campaign slogan against Trump. - Enemy of the State - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:00 am: Promote your favorite charity. - Nuke the Whales - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:02 am: Tell everyone about Sierra Blanca? https://thebulwark.com/sierra-blanca-is-how-trump-crushes-bernie/ - Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:03 am: I agree with everyone who want to see the ad space going to nonprofits and/or Oscar pictures. Also thanks for supporting the eventual nominee. - Montrose - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:04 am: If your goal is to build Biden’s delegate lead so he enters the convention as the presumptive nominee, then you should focus on making the case for Biden over Bernie in Illinois. Seems silly to waste the ad space on anything else. Not just silly, it makes Bloomberg’s backing of Biden ring hollow to do otherwise. - SOIL M - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:04 am: Use the space, and match the ad expenditures you spent in Illinois, to promote assistance to flood victims from 2019 flooding. Some lost everything. Many more are still trying to recover. The millions spent on advertising would have gone a long way to help them. It’s not too late. - The Captain - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:04 am: I know that some of your staff will keep their jobs but quite a few will not. Many of them are talented and hardworking people. Maybe you can use these posts to promote and feature a few each day for potential employers. - Cheryl44 - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:04 am: Woops, sorry. That last anon was me. - Blue Dog Dem - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:05 am: Explain to the viewing audience how effective ’stop and frisk’ really was. - Amalia - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:06 am: Mike Bloomberg has done amazing work on gun violence prevention. do more of that. The world needs it. thank you. - Knucky Thompson - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:06 am: Since Trump’s got a nickname for Biden why don’t use ask for nicknames for Trump. Pick the one that will most irritate Trump and use it all the time. - Earnest - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:11 am: Stay the course. If your purpose in purchasing the ad was to make sure the Democratic nominee defeats Donald Trump in November, keep making your case. Alternately, and in all serious, donate $500,000/day to an illinois nonprofit or college and use the space for nominations. Use Rich’s standards for the Golden Horseshoe Awards. - Commander Norton - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:12 am: Use the space to promote a range of charities doing good work in Illinois to lift up disadvantaged communities and reduce income inequality. Encourage people to donate or volunteer. Match their donations. Maybe promote the Fair Tax amendment, too, if you’re so inclined. - PublicServant - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:15 am: Make the message Illinois-centered against the Koch-funded IPI and other supposedly “non-partisan”, “centered” organizations that seek to protect the moneyed by seeking to divide rest of us in order to maintain their funder’s cash flows against a just division of the profits that our country enables. - Senator Clay Davis - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:20 am: Contrasting South of Sherman’s comment: Don’t tell Bernie supporters to shut up and support Uncle Joe, but actually tell them why Biden’s platform achieves their goals. And maybe keep comments open and listen to their responses. - Levois J - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:21 am: I have nothing to add, just amused that comments were open to this paid ad. - Ed Equity - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:22 am: How about a contest for charities serving children with issues in the legislature? The winner(s)get to advertise for free on pressing issues they need legislators to know about? - Grandson of Man - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:27 am: Look at the close 2016 presidential primary results and promote Biden, as Bloomberg said he will support him. It might be very close again this year. - The Most Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:29 am: Children cannot advocate for themselves, and many of the child-focused advocacy groups cannot afford to advertise about the work they do. Boost the work Rich already does about DCFS by posting vignettes about the children affected. Or post a short paragraph or two about IL children who’ve been victims of gun violence. A different child each day. It’s nice to remind the bubble sometimes of real life. - Git em - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:29 am: Post any negative information about individual 13th Ward precinct captains. - Anon - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:31 am: Release the kraken on the MIlkman - Last Bull Moose - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:32 am: Show how Biden can beat Trump in the swing states. Show how Trump has failed on what he claims is important; immigration, China stealing patents, N. Korea and nuclear weapons, destroying drug cartels. - MG85 - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:34 am: Help Illinois pass the Fair Tax initiative. Put a spotlight on how climate change is impacting Illinois and how Donald Trump has exacerbated it. Demonstrate how forming a union in the workplace helps employees combat discrimination, wage disparities and unsafe conditions. - Skeptic - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:34 am: The youth vote is key to either Biden or Sanders. Do something to get try to get them to the polls. - XonXoff - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:35 am: Showcase your candidate of choice only at their best and most inspirational. Necessary or not, the signal to noise ratio and mud-slinging of mainstream political promotion is maddening for some of us. - revvedup - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:36 am: Maybe just a “Thank You Voters” banner? - Boone's is Back - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:37 am: 8 days of shirtless bloomberg posts. Give the people what they want. - Rutro - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:38 am: Keep Illinois blue, if you nominate Bernie, that’s no longer a sure thing. - Strategy Geek - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:45 am: Non-profits good; reasons to vote against Trump; Trump nicknames… @Chicago Cynic: Are such photos possible ? - olddog - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:48 am: Concur with the suggestions for promoting not-for-profits, etc. Also with promote Biden as the guy who can bring us together, get things done after Trump’s assault on institutional norms. I wouldn’t go negative on Bernie, though. I think plugging community charities and Biden could work together well under an overall positive theme of bringing us together, working together for the common good, etc. - Chicago Cynic - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:52 am: How about posting a top ten Trump lies a day. - Horseshoe Voter - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:55 am: While I had assumed you would continue the “Mike for Joe” theme, I like the idea of donating one day to each of eight Illinois chapters organizations that Bloomberg has supported who are working on legislation. - Boomerang - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:57 am: Promote candidates in tough IL races who have endorsed Biden. - Seats - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 11:58 am: Promote the fair tax in Illinois. Maybe post things to show why we should be optimistic that Biden can attract young voters. The Democratic party seems more split by age than it has ever been in my lifetime. What was smart strategy with the dropouts right before Super Tuesday seems to have re-sparked the anger (to a lesser extent) that came from Bernie supporters after the emails were leaked in 2016. I recognize there is risk with either direction, but would like to be reassured and have my hair combed for 8 days. - FormerParatrooper - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 12:00 pm: As mentioned before, charities and non profits, especially those who provide material assistance to the young and elderly. Also post their donation addresses. - fedup - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 12:12 pm: Mock Trump’s tweets with what important actually happened that day. Plenty to choose from. Trump’s tweeting today about how Warren dropping out of the race late cost Bernie a bunch of delegates… while instead maybe a serious president would focus on how Illinois announced its fifth Covid-19 case, New York, LA, and others are facing this outbreak with a shortage of reliable testing kits and protective equipment for health care workers. Get in the game, or get out Donald. Sad! - Serbian Army - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 12:21 pm: A competition for the best Rod Blagojevich Cameo script, pay for it and post the video back on CapFax - Blandish - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 12:22 pm: Bloomberg could run more Romney for President ads like he did in 2012. - Pundent - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 12:27 pm: Mike has been able to get under Trump’s skin better than any other candidate. Much of that was do to clever ads and bringing non-political types into the communication process. Keep doing that. While I agree that there are any number of Illinois-centric causes that are worthy of support and aid, I would continue to make the failures of the President front and center in all of your communications. - Candy Dogood - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 12:32 pm: Folks that follow this blog have been very generous in the past and a lot of the time we can forget about the good things that are going on or the people that are doing good things. Using this ad space to highlight some opportunities we might have to support worthwhile causes and our neighbors or other things we can do that might otherwise be able to make a positive difference in someone’s life might be a nice way to round out the ad buy. - ste_with_a_v_en - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 12:45 pm: Maybe just posing information about voting in Illinois? Like how, when, where, and most important why? - dlapine - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 1:13 pm: Track IL-related covid19 news and government actions - Wensicia - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 1:16 pm: Post Nate Silver’s daily prognostications on the upcoming primaries. - dbk - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 1:24 pm: Provide updated daily information about COVID-19, in collaboration with JHU’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. Would be providing a significant public service + reminding you-know-who that Bloomberg essentially re-founded the top institution of its type in the country. - frustrated GOP - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 1:33 pm: If you all could take a section of the federal budget that’s been cut during this administration and the impact to that section of the stock market that would be interesting. You know CDC funding % drop compared to market drop due to virus impact. - Flapdoodle - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 1:39 pm: See three themes here — charitable organizations, COVID-19, and Oscar — each worthy, but I suspect Oscar, being a sensible fellow, would want to see the space used for the “big picture”. Why not blend charitable organizations with community health care, including what resources might be available to less advantaged for dealing with outbreaks of contagious diseases? - Majority of Me - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 2:20 pm: Tell us why Bloomberg loves Illinois. Many people put down our great State; cheer us up. - Commonsense in Illinois - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 2:26 pm: Seriously, how about messages for GOTV for the candidate of one’s choice? Elections are won by those who show up. - Baltimoron - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 2:42 pm: Keeping up with the positive idea of spotlighting a good issue in this pre-paid space: Could one day be used in advance of “Take Down Tobacco Day” on March 18? https://www.takedowntobacco.org/ - Anonymiss - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 3:37 pm: I like the idea of using the space for non-profits and social services, but that will likely take longer to assemble, vet, and create than it deserves or eight days allows. So if the space was reserved to persuade Illinois voters, consider making the case for how your endorsed candidate, Biden, would have a positive impact on those very causes, highlight his record and messages, etc. - Froganon - Thursday, Mar 5, 20 @ 5:56 pm: Support Marie Newman and the Graduated Income Tax. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.