Fair question but I don't think it's the same thing, Bloomberg was trying to buy the public and instill himself in office in a competitive race.

I think the strategy of just finding popular candidates and then becoming their biggest financial supporters should be more cost effective. If it's a new party there might be great deals for the thrifty oligarch.

Money doesn’t always work. It usually does, but not always. Bloomberg, having made himself a symbol of corporate wealth, was a little too on the nose.