After months of hesitation, former NYC mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg has announced his intention to run for the President of the United States in 2020. The decision has already attracted much attention, from both the left and right, and it seems like Bloomberg is being attacked from all sides of the American political spectrum.

The Left sees in him another rich, old, white, male Wall Street billionaire. For some progressives, being a representative of even one of these categories is enough to draw hostility, not to mention when they are all combined in one person.

In the interim, for the right, Bloomberg is just another leftist violating Second Amendment rights and climate change crusader. Yet, for all the polarizing ire directed against Michael Bloomberg, at such a pivotal point in the history of the United States, he is the only Democrat not only capable of beating Trump in 2020 but also addressing America’s modern challenges pragmatically and by forging bipartisanship and uniting the country.

According to the set of surveys by The New York Times Upshot and Siena College, among registered voters, only former vice-president Joe Biden leads incumbent President Donald Trump in six battleground states. Bernie Sanders is deadlocked with the president, whereas another Democratic presidential hopeful, Elizabeth Warren, wins only one state over Trump.

“Even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision we also have to be rooted in reality. The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it,” said former President Barack Obama in his recent meeting with wealthy Democratic donors.

Though he did not mention any candidates by name, it could be easily inferred that many of Warren and Sanders’s proposals, such as Medicare for All, free college tuition, and massive wealth and income taxes on the rich, are too radical for an average American.

While appealing to the core Democratic electorate, politicians advocating these ideas, as could be seen from the polls, will hand over victory to Trump in the general election. At the same time, Joe Biden, despite being appealing to many constituencies and so far beating Trump in national polls, can’t escape the Ukraine scandal, regardless of whether or not he and his son are innocent, after impeachment trial goes to Senate.

Furthermore, Donald Trump is likely to use the case of Ukraine to smear his opponent, even if the accusations are unfounded — this is not to mention Biden’s age problems, such as forgetting in which state he is on the stage.

Bloomberg is disliked by ultra-left progressives, but he could win over some moderate Republicans and centrists. Some might object that he will lose people that would have otherwise voted for Sanders and Warren.

However, in today’s increasingly polarized political environment, many people will likely vote for Bloomberg, just for not being Trump. A three-term mayor of the financial capital of the world, Bloomberg has considerable executive experience. A self-made man and financier, he understands economics and its intricacies.

These factors may be significant campaign assets in the general elections, but might undermine his chances of winning the Democratic nomination, where politicians are becoming more and more hostile towards the private sector. Because of Bloomberg’s unpopularity among Democrats, there is a chance that he loses Democratic primary.

However, with President Trump’s approval ratings being under 50%, Bloomberg might succeed in attracting centrist moderates who, while disliking Trump personally, support his economic policies and are ambivalent about progressives’ sweeping agenda.

If Democrats truly want to win in 2020 and stop Trump’s derailing of America’s fundamental democratic institutions and his assault on principles on which the U.S. was founded, they need to elect a centrist candidate capable of tackling rising polarization and partisanship on the American political scene.

Read more of our election coverage:

October Democratic Debate in Review

Will Joe Biden Destroy His Own Campaign?

Andrew Yang is Different From the Other Candidates

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