Wisconsinites have seen countless Bloomberg ads, now they can watch him debate

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Mike Bloomberg declared his candidacy for president less than three months ago.

He's quickly gone from a non-factor to second in a national poll. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Professor Mordecai Lee said the reason is simple.

"With a couple hundred million dollars, you can buy name recognition, and you can buy support, just by flooding the airwaves," Lee said.

Bloomberg has spent more than $400 million on ads. He is vastly outspending all of his competition. Bloomberg is one of the more moderate Democrats. He was elected mayor of New York both as a Republican, and later as an independent.

No candidate in recent history has succeeded with his strategy of not appearing on any ballots until super Tuesday.

"This is the exception that breaks the rule," Lee said. "This is the exception that says, skip the early primaries, parachute in later as long as you spend enough money."

Bloomberg has only appeared in two Marquette Law Polls. Director Charles Franklin says, so far, they have only polled him against other Democrats.

"He has climbed a bit from the first to the second, as he's doing in national polling," Franklin said.

Bloomberg has appeared in more ads than other candidates in Wisconsin, which Franklin said can partially be attributed to the fact that he has not had to spend time campaigning in early states, like the other candidates.

Franklin says voters will have a chance to see how he responds to live criticism, in the primary debate Wednesday night.

"The others have been doing this for months now," Franklin said. "He's a newcomer to it. He, granted had some as mayor, but this is a special kind of creature for him tonight."

Franklin says his next poll will ask Wisconsinites to pick between Bloomberg and President Donald Trump in a hypothetical match up. That will be released next week.