Democrats are in complete disarray, and I love it. That doesn’t mean it will last – 100 days is 200 lifetimes in politics – but all things being equal, you’d much rather be in Donald Trump’s position than Joe Biden’s right now.
The civil war on the left, coupled with the attempted assassination of Trump, has left Democrats flailing. They can’t campaign without money, but they can’t raise money without a candidate. And while they technically have one, will Biden still be it in a month? In a week?
Why would anyone give to a guy who might drop out? Moreover, why would anyone give to a guy who might drop out who, should his Vice President not get the nomination, make all the money he’d received to that point kind of worthless? Well, it's not worthless, but Biden could either give it to super PACs or, worse for Democrats, control it himself. He could create one and spend it himself rather than give it to a super PAC. In service to the party, of course, but imagine Joe trying desperately to be a player in a race he’s not a part of.
The nightmare scenarios for Democrats write themselves.
But that seems less likely the longer this plays out. The Biden campaigns are chugging ahead like nothing is wrong, which means they’re burning through a ton of money on ads, salaries, benefits, etc., with very little coming in to replenish the accounts. In short, they’re hemorrhaging money.
That’s not unusual. A campaign with money left after election day is a scam campaign—one in which the incumbent was never at risk thanks to gerrymandering or where the challenger was a novice challenging someone safe and had no idea what they were doing. There should be nothing left in the tank; it should all be left on the field.
But you’re supposed to be broke the day after election day, not three months out. Campaigns often borrow money (or the candidates lend it to the campaign at a nice interest rate so they can make a profit off it, which is perfectly legal corruption, by the way, as a lot of politicians do it in races where gerrymandering makes the outcome a foregone conclusion), but the borrowing because they’re primarily broke comes at the end. We are not at the end.
Democratic Party insiders have been telling everyone that the fundraising has dried up. It’s kind of funny, considering their whining about Biden is what caused the fundraising to dry up. Nevertheless, it’s a desert over there.
In their push to oust Biden in favor of a yet-to-be-named but equally, if not more, unpopular candidate, Democratic donors have shut their wallets. The rich have abandoned Biden because of his debate performance; the little donors can’t carry the weight themselves. It’s the rich vs. the poor, and in Democratic Party politics, the rich always win. It’s just never been this pronounced before.
The party is trying, as is the Biden campaign, but it’s just not working right now.
The Biden campaign is sending out emails asking for grassroots support for themselves, and the DNC is out trying to raise money for itself. They aren’t ignoring each other completely – the DNC still pays lip service to Biden, just in case – but they do come off as estranged.
In an email Saturday, the DNC only mentioned Biden once but coupled it with “and Democrats everywhere” in their pitch for cash.
After standard boilerplate fundraising garbage, the DNC email lumps all Democrats together, writing, “Can Joe Biden and Democrats everywhere count on you to make a contribution to the Democratic National Committee today? The amount isn't as important as the number of donations we receive because it all adds up. Every single donation matters. It can matter in the presidential race, the House and Senate control, or even legislative races in your state.”
There are two types of campaigns that don’t ask for a specific size donation: those hoping to dilute the fact that they’re funded by the extremely wealthy by lowering their average donation size and those desperate to get anyone back in the habit of giving because they’re broke.
Democrats appear to be in the latter category, which I love. However, it shakes out, and whoever ends up on the ballot needs to be destroyed. They deserve it.