In the political arena, there’s no shortage of optimism in the Bernie Sanders camp right now. The Vermont senator may have been in Las Vegas last week for the latest Democratic presidential candidate debate and to campaign for the state’s caucus votes, but gamblers there knew he was already the odds-on favorite to win the party’s nomination.

After he won 24 of Nevada’s pledged delegates to the Democratic national convention, to 9 won by former Vice-President Joe Biden, he had even more reason for cheer. Meanwhile self-funded billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who’s third in national polls and recently opened a campaign office here in Pocatello, wasn’t even a candidate in Nevada.

Bloomberg was in Las Vegas, too, but only for the debate. His performance met with mixed reviews. Whether the paid critics’ assessments were correct will be more apparent when voters in Texas, California and a dozen other states vote in Democratic contests on Super Tuesday, March 3. Primaries and caucuses that day will pick just over a third of the Democratic party’s pledged delegates to their mid-July convention.

Bloomberg’s strategy to bypass Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, the first four contests to pick Democratic presidential delegates, means he will be on a ballot for the first time this year on Super Tuesday. The question is will that strategy work?

So far his message, aided by his national advertising campaign, has helped him make remarkable gains. It’s put him polling ahead of, in order, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, billionaire businessman Tom Steyer and Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, not to mention those who have already dropped out of the race.

Getting a message seen among so many candidates is less challenging for Bloomberg, given how rich he is. He’s worth about $60 billion. As of mid-February he had already spent about $300 million on campaign ads. Whether that kind of spending will be enough to catch up with the leaders, each of whom has been in the race far longer, remains to be seen.

Like Sanders and Biden, Bloomberg is working to convince voters he’s the Democrat most capable of beating the incumbent. Besides his party’s mainstream, he’s looking for votes from undecided Democrats, independents and dissatisfied Republicans.

His pitch centers around climate change, health care, women’s rights, education and gun safety. On the environment, he has established a significant record, working for over a decade with environmentalists and others in a campaign to close aging coal-fired power plants as alternative, cleaner energy sources have become available.

The campaign alone is credited with causing the closure of 40 percent of the 240-plus power plants taken off line as wind, solar and natural gas have become cheaper power sources. Total greenhouse gas emissions from the US dropped last year, largely as a result.

This kind of “see the problem, then work to solve it” approach is what’s made Bloomberg successful. From a middle-class start — he’s the son of a bookkeeper — he worked his way through college, earning an engineering degree and an MBA. He advanced to be a partner at a Wall Street investment bank. Laid off in an acquisition, he started what would become a wildly successful company that now employs 20,000 people and supplies data to investment firms worldwide.

Twenty years ago, Bloomberg stepped into politics, running for mayor of New York City. He held the post for three terms, accumulating a record of significant positives and some serious negatives, too. His support for stop-and-frisk policies that targeted people of color is something he has apologized for repeatedly.

Bloomberg’s views on guns are problematic for many, though not out of line with a majority of voters. Polls show 60 percent percent of Americans want stricter gun laws of some sort. A whopping 77 percent support stricter red flag laws. Those permit taking a gun from someone deemed to be dangerous, if a family member indicates concern.

Will a substantial advertising budget be enough to convince Democrats his moderate (”common sense,” says Bloomberg) views are better than those of Biden, Buttigieg and others? Even tougher, can he convince the Sanders and Warren supporters to switch to him? It’s not likely. The smart bet appears to be Sanders. Still, a lot can happen in a crowded campaign that’s far from over.

The Bloomberg campaign office in Pocatello is on Alameda Road, between the Ridley’s supermarket and Chang’s Garden restaurant.

Dave Finkelnburg is a long-time Idahoan, a former newspaper journalist, and is currently semi-retired from an engineering career.