You've got to wonder about a guy like Michael Bloomberg, entering late into the Democrats' presidential race. Is his entry into this race normal? Is something going on under the surface? Why are Democrats putting up with it? He doesn't even care if he's in the Democratic debates, for one thing, something the other Democratic candidates are raising holy hell about as they get disqualified. But not Bloomie. He seems to have some other game going on.

Richer than Croesus, he's using some of his pocket change to saturate the television market with ad after ad on the belief that Americans can be talked voting him into office just through constantly hearing from him. The poor doofuses always buy if they hear something advertised long enough, right?

Now there's news that he's got a new sneaky-pete venture, having invested in a secretive company with no website called 'Hawkfish' to manipulate all those proles out there into voting for him. 

According to CNBC:

Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is pouring tens of millions of dollars from his vast personal fortune into his campaign. A piece of it is going to an unknown digital business called Hawkfish — which Bloomberg himself founded during the spring.

Hawkfish will be the “primary digital agency and technology services provider for the campaign,” Julie Wood, a Bloomberg campaign spokeswoman, told CNBC. She added that the firm “is now providing digital ad services, including content creation, ad placement and analytics” for their campaign. It will also help Democratic races across the country in future election cycles, she said.

It's weird stuff, very manipulative, and probably within character from him, given that he has already founded a very clever media empire premised on just the right timing. Bloomberg knows how to use media to move markets, taking it this time to the voter market.

No wonder he doesn't care if he makes the debates or not. He's got all the data from everything you've clicked on your computer screen, and will respond accordingly.

Which is kind of queasy-making, given his talents.

But it's also not queasy-making in that he's already been at it for a few months and he's not taking territory. As I argued earlier, the more he talks, the more the viewers dislike him. 

Mike Allen, over at Axios, notes that the Trump people have a social media campaign, too, and they're masters at it:

The RNC goes into the presidential election year with more than seven times as much cash on hand as the DNC — $63 million vs. $8.3 million, according to the parties' FEC filings.

Why it matters: Far from putting Republicans back on their heels, impeachment is energizing Trump's base just as the 2020 march to Election Day kicks off.