Joseph Sabino Mistick: Michael Bloomberg could have Trump on the ropes

“Hit him in the labonza!” As we gathered around the tiny black-and-white television for the “Friday Night Fights” in the 1950s, Pap and the uncles shouted at the smaller boxers to go inside and work the bellies of their much bigger opponents.

Body punches — focused, repeated, unrelenting — take the starch out of a fighter, sapping his strength and setting him up for a big fall in the later rounds. They are rarely glamorous, but they always take a toll.

That’s what Michael Bloomberg is doing this year. He has the personal bucks to outspend and more than match Donald Trump — ad for ad and dollar for dollar and jibe for jibe. And he’s not just in it to win it. He’s in it to make sure Trump loses it.

In a New York Times interview last month, Bloomberg did not rule out spending a billion dollars of his personal fortune to defeat Trump, even if the Democrats pick someone other than him as their candidate. And he keeps coming at Trump from all directions.

Already, Bloomberg has spent over $250 million on ads in more than 24 states. This includes buys of nearly $18 million in Texas, $16 million in Florida, $9 million in New York and $9 million in Pennsylvania.

And he has put together a ground game in those states. As Bloomberg’s spokeswoman Galia Slayen said, “He is the only candidate running a national campaign and building a robust infrastructure to beat Donald Trump.”

Before the State of the Union address, Bloomberg ran a television and digital ad that pulled no punches. Here’s that message: “The Real State of the Union? A nation divided by an angry, out-of-control president. A White House besotted by lies, chaos and corruption.”

Bloomberg matched Trump’s Super Bowl ad buy, too. Both men spent $11 million for 60 seconds of America’s most expensive ad time. Without Bloomberg in the game, Trump would have had the Super Bowl audience all to himself.

And another ad that Bloomberg has been running on “Fox and Friends,” Trump’s favorite morning show, seems to have hit its mark.

Calling out Trump’s verbal abuse of our military leaders, that ad goes like this: “Soldiers, heroes, attacked by an erratic and out-of-control president. Arrogance, ignorance, chaos. Enough. America needs a steady leader who will honor those who serve.”

Trump took the bait and responded with his usual playground name-calling and silly insults. But it is clear that with Bloomberg, the Democrats finally have someone who can give it to Trump as good as Trump gives it to others. And that makes this a new day.

David Axelrod, the former Obama adviser, told The New York Times, “Trump fears Bloomberg because Bloomberg is actually the guy who Trump played on TV — a fantastically wealthy, self-made success with unlimited resources and a willingness to spend it.”

Bloomberg might not be the one who wins it all, but if he stays in the fight, he could make the difference for the Democrats this time around. And you can almost hear the other Democratic candidates shouting, “Keep working the labonza!”