Jonathan Frahm
Staff Writer
In his first major political move since leaving New York City’s mayoral office, Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday that he is planning on spending $50 million on building a grassroots network that will inspire voters nationwide who are passionate about bringing an end to gun violence.
Naturally, he’s hoping the organization can reach the growth required to overpower the outreach of the National Rifle Association, having said that gun control advocates can learn from the N.R.A. in terms of “punishing” politicians who fail to support their agenda. In short, he told The New York Times, “We’ve got to make them afraid of us.”
For now, the N.R.A. has yet to release a comment.
Women, particularly mothers, will be the focus of Bloomberg’s upcoming campaign, which aims to target anti-gun policies with homegrown field ops instead of full-blown ad campaigns bombarding TV and the Internet. While an interesting and idiosyncratic new approach to taking on gun violence, Bloomberg’s latest move will undoubtedly meet heavy opposition early on, potentially stifling what is already such a difficult idea for much of America to swallow.
What do you think of Bloomberg’s latest move deeper into the political fray? Sound off in the comments section!