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A dark horse and late entrance to the political field this election cycle, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been making big waves, politically speaking. As a billionaire businessman, he’s funding much of his own campaign, which is directly attacking President Donald Trump at every turn.
Bloomberg is having issues connecting to the “average” American, however. After all, what does the average American have in common with a man worth nearly $60 billion, who went to Harvard and Johns Hopkins, and is the 9th richest person in the US today?
Not a whole lot. That’s why he enlisted the help of the judge for the average American.
Judge Judy, that is.
We all know that celebrity endorsements are a big deal, and can really make a difference in a campaign. It’s believed that in 2008 when Oprah endorsed Obama, she handed him the Democratic nomination. Kanye backing Trump helped throughout his campaign, and Beyonce and Jay-Z siding with Democrats absolutely made a difference for Obama’s second term.
Judge Judy’s commercial endorsing Bloomberg just aired over the weekend for the first time, and Bloomberg hopes to help capture a more middle-class and diverse voting base with this ad.
In the ad, Judge Judy is sitting in what appears to be her chambers and advocating for Bloomberg’s election. She calls his leadership “steady” in “very challenging times,” and implies that he is not only the best one for the job, but the only real choice.
If you don’t watch daytime television, you might not realize just how important Judge Judy is.
Approximately 10 million people watch Judge Judy every day, listening to her weigh in on matters of petty theft, vandalism, and relationships gone very wrong. Her viewer base is heavily women and very diverse, which is the perfect voter base for Bloomberg, too.
In 2013 a poll showed that more Americans trusted Judge Judy than the Supreme Court Justices. In 2016, 10% of college grads believed she already served on the “highest court” of the land.
Whether this is an issue with our reliance on daytime TV or a question of our educational system, I can’t tell you. But I do know that the name “Judge Judy” packs a serious punch, and Bloomberg is hoping that this will boost his campaign credibility.
He has also hired about 500 staffers across 30 states to propel his campaign forward, and has already spent over $200 million of his own money by some estimates. A drop in the bucket to a billionaire like him?
