“A former field organizer for Michael Bloomberg filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against his presidential campaign Monday, arguing that she and thousands of others laid off this month had been tricked into taking jobs they were told would last until November,” the New York Times reports.

In dismissing the workers eight months earlier than promised, the complaint said, the campaign had “deprived them of promised income and health care benefits, leaving them and their families potentially uninsured in the face of a global pandemic.”

Michael Bloomberg will visit Sacramento and Fresno during his fourth California trip since declaring his candidacy in late-November, the Sacramento Bee reports.

“Bloomberg has adopted an unorthodox strategy for the 2020 primary, skipping the four earliest voting states in the nation, spending more than $250 million on political ads and going all-in on California — the most delegate-rich state in the nation.”

Said Bloomberg state director Chris Myers: “Obviously we’re not in the first four states. Our Iowa is California. This is our first state.”

“Mike Bloomberg plans to shift his television ad message this week to directly call for President Trump’s removal from office, with a new spot that will run in states with Republican senators who face competitive reelection fights this year,” the Washington Post reports.

“The decision to spend money on impeachment ads in the states of vulnerable senators like Cory Gardner (R-CO), Martha McSally (R-AZ), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) fits into a larger strategy by Bloomberg since he started running for the Democratic nomination for president.”

“He has tried to direct spending for his own long-shot presidential bid to also benefit other goals, like defeating Trump in November, even if he is not the nominee, and helping other Democrats down ballot.”

“Michael Bloomberg is wasting no time building out his campaign’s ground game, with 500 organizers and staff in more than 30 states, including all 14 of the delegate-rich Super Tuesday states,” his campaign told NBC News.

“The ramp-up — both in staff and in spending on TV ads — has been quick. Just six weeks after he announced his candidacy, the former mayor of New York now boasts more than 800 staffers on his payroll and over $100 million spent on advertising.”

Michael Bloomberg spoke to Gayle King about Joe Biden on CBS This Morning:

KING: Do you still consider him a friend?

BLOOMBERG: Yeah, sure, why would he not be?

KING: I don’t know. I’m thinking with friends like you, who needs enemies?

BLOOMBERG: You are friendly with other great TV presenters in the morning.

KING: Yes, yeah.

BLOOMBERG: And you’re all competing for the same get–

KING: But I’m not trying to–

BLOOMBERG: –all competing for the same job.

KING: –take their job.

BLOOMBERG: Well, I’m not trying to take his job either. He doesn’t have the job of president of the United States and neither do I. At the moment, the person that has it is Donald Trump. I’m trying to take away the job from Donald Trump.

John Ellis: “There are two ways things can go in the ‘electability’ half of the bracket. Biden can win by default… Or he can get crushed in Iowa and New Hampshire by a 37-year-old gay mayor from South Bend, Indiana, and as a result, watch his candidacy collapse. The latter outcome would leave Buttigieg as the commander of the ‘electability’ army, which (assuming the polling is accurate) enjoys an overwhelming numerical advantage over the ‘progressive’ battalions.”

“It’s on the latter scenario that Mr. Bloomberg’s candidacy hinges. His handlers are presuming that having seen Mr. Biden dispatched and Mr. Buttigieg all-but-anointed, the Democratic primary electorate in the Super Tuesday states (and beyond) would recoil with buyer’s remorse and scramble to find a more ‘suitable’ (meaning ‘not gay,’ although no one will ever admit it) replacement.”

“And there waiting for them, with literally billions of dollars ready to spend and open arms, would be Michael Bloomberg: Calm, competent, uncharismatic, efficient, former Republican, ruthless billionaire Michael Bloomberg, with an unholy host of political consultants and pollsters ready, willing and able to fan out across every last cable news show to explain why, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Mike Bloomberg was the most electable Democrat in November.”

“As he moves toward a presidential announcement, New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg is rolling out plans to spend an estimated $15 million to $20 million on a voter registration drive designed to weaken President Trump’s reelection chances in five battleground states,” the AP reports.

“News of the large investment, confirmed by Bloomberg’s team on Wednesday, comes less than a week after the former New York City mayor unveiled a $100 million online advertising campaign attacking Trump in four general election swing states as well.”

“Michael Bloomberg flew to Arkansas on Tuesday morning to personally file paperwork to become a presidential candidate in the state’s Democratic primary, sending a highly public signal about his strong interest in entering the 2020 race,” the New York Times reports.

“In a further sign that Mr. Bloomberg is likely to run, one of his longtime lieutenants informed the Pete Buttigieg campaign that he could no longer back the South Bend, Ind., mayor in a primary that included Mr. Bloomberg.”

“Bloomberg is expected to make a final decision within days on whether to proceed with a presidential campaign. People close to him believe his mind is all but made up and his advisers have been recruiting potential campaign staff at a furious pace since the end of last week.”

“Mike Bloomberg is jumping into the Democratic presidential race because he believes that Joe Biden is fading, opening the moderate lane next to Elizabeth Warren,” sources close to the former New York mayor tell Axios.

Said one source: “Mike will spend whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump. The nation is about to see a very different campaign than we’ve ever seen before.”

Another source said Bloomberg will make a final decision “soon” and isn’t expected to seek or accept campaign contributions.

Michael Bloomberg, who is once again mulling a presidential bid, writes in the Washington Post:

“Over the course of the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, candidates have been asked time and again to explain — often, in about 30 seconds — what they would do on a broad range of critically important issues, from climate change and gun violence to health care and taxes. And yet rarely are the candidates asked, and more rarely still do they talk about, how they would go about achieving their goals…”

“The presidential aspirants are not short on big ideas. But voters must demand they explain how they intend to move from proposing plans to actually implementing them, including passing them through Congress. Those who dodge the question by speaking of revolution and the bully pulpit aren’t up to the job.”

Josh Barro: “Mike Bloomberg is a very smart guy who thinks unusually dispassionately, for a billionaire, about how to spend his money effectively in politics, which is why he keeps passing on presidential runs whose sole effect would be to make consultants richer and himself less rich.”

Michael Bloomberg announced that he would not run for president, “concluding his path to the Democratic nomination was narrow and he could accomplish more as a private citizen,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Bloomberg: “I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election. But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field.”

“In place of a candidacy, Bloomberg has committed to funding a new independent political operation with the goal of preventing the reelection of President Trump, with intensive voter targeting and outreach in swing states over the next 18 months.”

Michael Bloomberg’s closest advisors “have been interviewing potential aides in early caucus and primary states as the billionaire considers a 2020 run for president,” CNBC reports.

“Kevin Sheekey, one of Bloomberg’s closest confidants, has been meeting with prospective staff members in Iowa and New Hampshire… Iowa and New Hampshire serve as the first two states in the presidential primaries while also acting as an early litmus test for those looking to capture the nomination. Both of the early contests are expected to take place in February 2020.”