In mid-March, as Bloomberg had to decide whether to file for ballot positions in all fifty states, Hillary’s campaign was rocked by fresh news on the fallout from her handling of highly classified emails. FBI leaks showed that a pair of career prosecutors had recommended an indictment. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, recognizing that other senior officials over the years had been similarly careless in emails, squelched a criminal prosecution. But in order to maintain its integrity, the Obama DOJ issued a stinging interim report that let Sanders re-open an issue he had closed in 2015.

After former Arkansas nursing home administrator Juanita Broaddrick appeared on “60 Minutes” to tell her version of the alleged Bill Clinton rape story from back in 1978, many younger women in particular believed her. Hillary had trouble walking back a 2015 tweet saying that women should be believed in sexual assault cases. For weeks polls had showed women resentful of the arguments offered by feminists like Gloria Steinem and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that Hillary deserved their support on gender solidarity grounds. Now the gender issue began to boomerang on Hillary among voters.

As he announced his candidacy, Bloomberg began spending some of the $1 billion he had promised in January of 2016 to devote to a race. He could afford it. Revised estimates of his net worth put his fortune at $40 billion, which trumped Trump’s pile and neutralized the Donald’s claim—central to his popularity—to being the only candidate who couldn’t be bought.