Dems in Array?
A data point or two amid the panic.
Via Reuters: Biden campaign, Democrats rake in $42 million in January fundraising.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign and his Democratic Party allies raised more than $42 million in January and have $130 million cash-on-hand as they prepare for a likely general election contest against Republican Donald Trump.
The fundraising figures, released by Biden’s campaign, were propelled by small-dollar donors giving money online, officials said.
“January’s fundraising haul – driven by a powerhouse grassroots fundraising program that continues to grow month by month – is an indisputable show of strength to start the election year,” Biden’s campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.
Given a lot of the hand-wringing I have been reading as it pertains to Democratic enthusiasm for the Biden campaign, this is one data point that suggests perhaps things are going well. Not only is having a large amount of money on hand a positive, but raising it in small-dollar donations is a sign of significant support.
For comparative purposes, also via Reuters: Trump’s re-election campaign spent more money than it raised in January.
Donald Trump’s election campaign spent more money on ads and other expenses in January than it took in from donors, according to a disclosure submitted on Tuesday to the Federal Election Commission.
Trump’s cash holdings fell to just over $30 million at the close of last month as he waged successful campaigns for primary contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, down from around $33 million a month earlier, the disclosure showed.
[…]
Trump’s campaign said it raised $8.8 million in January and spent more than $11 million, with outlays including more than $5 million on ads and mailings as he easily won his party’s first presidential nomination contests.
[…]
Separately, the biggest super PAC supporting Trump, known as MAGA Inc, reported raising $7 million last month, barely enough to offset the $5 million refund it issued to a separate Trump political action committee (PAC) that is paying the candidate’s legal expenses as he battles dozens of criminal charges.
The Trump group that received the money, Save America, reported spending close to $3 million on legal expenses during the month, adding to the more than $47 million it spent last year on legal expenses.
Most of MAGA Inc’s fundraising in January came from a $5 million contribution from Timothy Mellon, heir to the Mellon banking fortune, who is also funding a super PAC backing independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
So this election year can be a test of the old adage:
Money talks and bullshit walks!
Yes, another data point from a conflicted electorate sending all kinds of frustrating mixed signals about the 2024 elections. The race is unpredictable and confusing right now. Ezra Klein, Ruy Teixiera, and others making point-blank declarative statements about who’s ahead or behind — or who will and won’t win — are out over their skis.
Uncertainty is uncomfortable. So Biden’s and Democrats’ fundraising haul, and Trump Republican fundraising woes, will be downplayed by those who’ve uncritically swallowed the ‘Biden is losing by almost every metric’ narrative — just as they dismiss Democrats’ winning streak and overperformance in dozens of 2023-2024 special elections.
We won’t hear politicos say “Biden is losing by all my cherry-picked metrics, primarily my overreaction to months-out polling that has Trump slightly ahead” or “Trump is losing based on isolated data that reinforces my motivated reasoning and desire to see him go down.” Even though that’s what most are doing.
@DK: The frustrating thing to me is when news organizations pretend we elect our president democratically.
We get headlines all the time: “4% Difference in Presidential race, new national poll reveals!” – which doesn’t mean jack or shit.
Of course, the entire race takes place in 8-10 swing states, and only the polling in those states matters to the outcome. A huge lead in California or Missouri – even a 90% lead – for one candidate or another is just trivia. That said, Texas might be in play this year, which would be something….
That last sentence is a whopper. Imagine having that kind of money and throwing it away, trying to upend democracy, rather than I dunno, feeding the poor or funding education or…well, anything else.
Seems to me if an individual can’t legally donate $5 million to a candidate, they shouldn’t be permitted to donate $5 million to that candidate’s PAC.
In a normal litigation scenario it is the cost of the lawyers that weighs heavily on the litigant’s decision to fight on or settle (plea bargain in a criminal case). That consideration has been removed from Trump’s equation, hence all the appeals and other stalling tactics. As befits a world class con artist and grifter, Trump has convinced others (small $$ donors and wealthy chumps like Timothy Mellon) to pay his legal bills.
@Tony W:
So. Much. This.
For perspective, Trump’s campaign has less than 1/10th of his recent New York judgment in cash on hand – this is what his campaign is using to wage a national election.
@Joe:
Hush. Don’t interrupt the enemy when he’s throwing good money after bad.
@Tony W: More like six swing states.
Macron’s support in France was basically equivalent to Biden’s before his last election.. and he won reelection relatively easily.