Joe Biden Raises $6.3 Million In First Day Of Fundraising

Former Vice-President Joe Biden had a very successful first day when it comes to campaign fundraising.

In what many will consider a first test of the viability of his campaign for President, former Vice-President Joe Biden raised $6.3 million in just one day of fundraising, putting him on course to build a substantial war chest going forward:

Joe Biden’s campaign announced Friday that he raised $6.3 million on his first day as an announced candidate, placing him atop the crowded Democratic primary in terms of first-day fundraising totals and quelling doubts about his ability to raise enough money to compete.

His surprising total — Biden has not been a candidate on his own since 2008 — far exceeded expectations set by those who suggested the establishment-oriented politician couldn’t compete in the new world of Democratic campaigns fueled by small-dollar donors.

Biden’s backers had set low expectations in advance, cognizant of how he might appear when measured against the two online fundraising dynamos of former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The former vice president was so concerned about his first-day haul that he made sure to throw a fundraiser, hosted at the Philadelphia home of a Comcast executive, on the day of his announcement and told donors the day before that he needed their help.

“People think Iowa and New Hampshire are the first test It’s not. The first 24 hours. That’s the first test,” Biden told them, according to three participants in a Wednesday conference call with him. “Those [early states] are way down the road. We’ve got to get through this first.”
Before Biden’s campaign released its total Friday, one bundler told POLITICO that he “crushed it.”

Having passed the first self-imposed test, Biden’s campaign cemented his role as a frontrunner in the race. He’s leading in national and most early state polls, and also in congressional endorsements. His announcement Thursday brought wall-to-wall coverage that also amplified his video announcement attacking President Trump over controversial remarks concerning the racist violence in Charlottesville.

That, in turn, led Trump to single out Biden and repeatedly attack him as “sleepy” and too old — reactions that Biden supporters said proved Biden was already making Trump uneasy.

Biden’s campaign launch sent the Democratic digital fundraising world in general into overdrive: About $7.6 million flowed through ActBlue, the party’s preferred online donation processor, on Thursday, according to the site. The daily average in the first three months of the year was $1.9 million.

It’s unclear exactly how much of that online money went to Biden’s nascent campaign, as his rivals for the Democratic nomination also tried to capitalize off the attention surrounding his launch.

Biden’s haul, due in no small part to funds raised by lobbyists and bundlers, quickly came under attack from Bernie Sanders and other candidates who have vowed not to take money from such sources. In the end. though. the source of Biden’s money strikes me as mattering far less than the fact that he is able to raise such large amounts of money in short periods of time. This will prove to be quite useful to him and his campaign in the future and demonstrates that he has the ability to raise significant amounts of money on his own without the assistance of Barack Obama or others. Additionally. I am rather skeptical of the notion that the source of the Vice-President’s fundraising will matter nearly as much as his progressive critics seem to believe it will As they say, money is the “mother’s milk” of politics and Joe Biden is going to have plenty to drink over the course of his campaign.

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. James Pearce says:

    This is what is meant by “smart money.”

    Meanwhile, a fifth of the Democratic Senate is shaking down small-donor voters for their quixotic bids. Cory Booker himself has spent $22 million for a 7th place showing in the polls.