CORN, POPPED: Michael Bloomberg Makes It to the Debate Stage. He May Regret It.

The brief against Bloomberg is significant, and his advisers know this as well as anyone. In preparation for the debate, advisers have been hurling mock rejoinders and pointed questions at Bloomberg about his record both as mayor and as head of a vast media and financial data empire that made him into one of the richest people on the planet.

During Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor in New York, for instance, policing practices known as “stop and frisk” were widely criticized for disproportionally targeting minorities. Now, Bloomberg apologizes for not sooner acting to end the policies that were in place when he became mayor and escalated on his watch. He has also apologized for comments that seemed to suggest that when banks ended discriminatory practices that denied housing loans to minorities — shorthanded as “redlining” — it helped fuel the 2008 economic meltdown.

Bloomberg can also anticipate sharp critiques for how his business has treated employees. Rivals have been studying lawsuits and news reports about a highly controlled culture that could seem out-of-step with today’s standards. Bloomberg is sensitive to questions about his wealth and privately held business, so candidates have been reading up on both — especially any with interests in China’s economy.

The pile-on has already started.

I will of course drunkblog tonight’s debate over at the PJMedia homepage.