by Peter Weinberger

pweinberger@claremont-courier.com

Over the years, literally hundreds of local politicians and political parties of all makes and affiliations chose to advertise in the Claremont COURIER. These advertisements have generally been limited to Claremont elections because of our hyper local reach.

With the California Democratic primary moved back to March 3, the Golden State has become critical for presidential candidates looking to gain momentum with their campaigns. The stakes are high because this Super Tuesday vote will clearly be the end of the road for some candidates. Needless to say, we will all see an enormous amount of political advertising on TV, online, and in print.

Several weeks ago, the COURIER staff was talking about the enormous amount of money presidential candidates were spending. Top on the list was Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire with deep pockets, blitzing the airwaves for his candidacy. That’s when our own Steven Felschundneff asked an important question. Would Bloomberg consider advertising in the COURIER? And what about the other candidates?

We all laughed, but quickly thought…why don’t we just ask?

It wasn’t hard to find a general information email—inquiry1@bloomberg.net—for the Bloomberg campaign. So I wrote an email stating how their campaign could show support for local news in the heavily populated Los Angeles County.

We decided to give this opportunity to all presidential candidates, and sent advertising requests to each of them.  A few days later, advertising director Mary Rose came up to me with excitement in her voice. “We heard back from the Bloomberg campaign and they asked for a rate sheet,” she said. Still having a wait and see attitude, I figured that Bloomberg’s response was merely a nice gesture.

For those of you who don’t know Mary, she can be rather persistent, and she kept in contact with all the campaigns via email.

When Mary walked up to me a few days later, I seriously thought something was wrong. She had this look in her eye that was part excitement, part disbelief. “Bloomberg is going to advertise!” Yes, they called back and ordered a full page ad, paying in advance. That ad is on page 13 of today’s print edition.

Given we had a taste of success, we doubled down on contacting other candidates, thinking this could be the start of something big. Turns out, only the Bloomberg campaign showed any interest in us.

I can definitely state this is the first time any presidential candidate has ever advertised in the Claremont COURIER. My father Martin is dancing around in heaven right now. Although knowing his political preferences, I sure he’s wondering…what happened to Bernie?

COURIER discount card program begins

One of the important advantages in buying a Premiere subscription is receiving our discount card for Claremont businesses. The idea is simple:?show the card at participating businesses and get an exclusive discount off your purchase, including restaurants.

This program was not only the idea of our classified/real estate manager Rachel Fagg, she literally marched around the Village to sell the idea. I cannot emphasize enough how excited our business partners are about this program. Through her hard work, this is a win-win for everyone involved and one of the promotions I said the COURIER would launch.

The big winners are our Premiere members, who paid $159 for this yearlong subscription on steroids. Using our discount card can literally pay for your subscription, while at the same time, helps support Claremont businesses.

The good news is the number of participating businesses continues to grow rapidly, especially now that the program rolled out. We will be publishing ads with updates on this growing list.

If you are serious about supporting Claremont, including the COURIER, purchasing a Premiere subscription touches all the bases. For those of you who signed up, your card is coming in the mail within seven to 10 days.

I want to thank everyone again for your enormous support as the COURIER reaches out to the Claremont community in new ways. Here’s a list of the current participants:

Ahava Chiropractic, 481 N. Central Ave., Suite B, Upland.

Aromatique Skin & Body Care, 319 W. First St., Claremont.

Bert & Rocky’s, 242 Yale Ave., Claremont.

Buddhamouse Emporium, 134 Yale Ave., Claremont.

Claremont Heritage, 840 N. Indian Hill Blvd., Claremont

Claremont Village Eatery, 232 W. Bonita Ave.

Dr. Grubbs, 373 W. Bonita Ave., Claremont.

Euro Cafe, 546 E. Base Line Rd., Claremont.

Hendricks Pharmacy, 137 N. Harvard Ave., Claremont.

Nuno’s Bistro & Bar, 2440 W. Arrow Rte., Upland

The Grove Vintage and The Grove Home, 101 N. Indian Hill Blvd., Claremont.

Tina G. Cosmetics, 141 N. Harvard Ave., Claremont.

Walter’s Restaurant, 310 Yale Ave., Claremont.