Trump And RNC Fundraising Far Outpaces Biden And Democrats

Posted on April 14, 2020 by LifeZette

Amid the impeachment battle and the virus, the American people have still continued to express their confidence in President Trump in a very personal and significant way, with their wallets.

The president’s reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee brought in $212 million in the first quarter of 2020. That includes $63 million in March alone as the virus raged. The $63 million is Trump’s second best month ever, only surpassed by the previous month at $86 million raised for the reelection effort.

This contrasts starkly with the Democrats, who have only $20 million in the bank as of the last reporting period. By comparison, the GOP reports having $240 million in the bank at the end of March. This cycle the GOP and Trump have raised more than $677 million. That is $270 million more than Barack Obama had at this point in his successful 2012 campaign. This GOP cash was raised despite the economic calamities befalling many voters. Some may even be out of work right now. But they still gave their money to the president’s campaign and the GOP.

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale commented Monday, “Americans can see President Trump leading this nation through a serious crisis and they are responding with their continued enthusiastic support for his reelection. Joe Biden, Democrats, and the media continue to oppose his every action, but the people know that President Trump is fighting for them so they are fighting for him as well.”

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also said Monday, “President Trump’s unyielding commitment to the American people has shown time and again that he is the President we need to lead our country through the crisis and it’s clear that voters are responding to his bold leadership. The enthusiasm for President Trump and our Party remains strong, and we continue to be all systems go toward November.”

Money is ammo in politics and without it a campaign cannot buy media or pay staff. Fundraising is also an indicator of how much enthusiasm a campaign is generating and how much commitment a political effort has produced among their base and the politically-involved public. These current Republican fundraising numbers highlight a very strong GOP and Trump campaign showing going into the summer, even in the middle of a national public health crisis and economic uncertainty.

This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on April 14, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Trump And RNC Fundraising Far Outpaces Biden And Democrats appeared first on The Political Insider.

Trump Reelection Chances May Be Hurt By Falling Economy

Posted on March 18, 2020 by LifeZette

American voters usually make their election decisions on two factors, peace and prosperity. The first looks good for the president. The second is getting worse by the day.

Yes, I know, it is not his fault. This is true and irrelevant. Voters vote on results and Trump has always asked to be judged on results. If too many are out of work in the fall, if too many businesses close, if the national economic psychology is trending downwards then the president may have a rough going.

He is partially saved by the fact that Joe Biden is a weak candidate. You could call him a speech-impaired Dukakis. He will not know how to strike the right tone between sorrow over the virus and indignation at the president’s supposed shortcomings. Biden will just spew, and incoherently at that.

True, an economic rescue package is on the way and the president is doing a good job in fighting the virus. But $1,000 per person will go quickly, may be a headache to distribute, and will be long forgotten by November. The virus should be mainly over by the fall and the president is liable to get much credit for his handling of the crisis.

MORE NEWS: Hillary Clinton blasts Trump for his handling of coronavirus outbreak

But will that credit overshadow an empty pocket or the loss of a job and wages? Not likely.

The president has a sharp political team and they are no doubt factoring this in to their reelection campaign. They will emphasize the probable low virus mortality rate compared to other countries and argue the president deserves votes for saving the nation from possible mass death.

They will have a point. But they will not be starting from the halcyon time of only a couple of months ago, when exoneration over impeachment and a booming economy made reelection look like a sure thing.

Trump still has an advantage because the jury is out on the economy in the fall. If it comes back guilty, if unemployment is sharply up and GDP is down, if stocks are low compared to a year ago, if business closures are numerous, then the sentence of the electoral jury may not be to the president’s liking.

This piece was written by David Kamioner on March 18, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Trump Reelection Chances May Be Hurt By Falling Economy appeared first on The Political Insider.

GOP Tops Democrats in Fundraising Haul

Posted on January 31, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 31, 2020

The impeachment drama may be annoying in some ways and a national calamity in others. But it certainly hasn’t dulled the fundraising acumen of the president and the Republican National Committee.

They pulled off their best ever non-election year by smashing their former numbers for December.

The GOP raised $26.5 million in the last month of 2019. That’s a $6 million gain on their November number and their best December ever. The increase is likely caused by a backlash effect from the presidential impeachment.

In 2019 the Republicans and Trump together raised $463 million, with an end of the year cash on hand balance of $194 million and $0 debt. The RNC raised $241 million of that amount.

The Democrats were $6.5 million in debt as of November of 2019.

Democrat contenders for the top also raised steep amounts, by Dem standards, in the last quarter of 2019. Biden raised $22.7 million. That puts him below Buttigieg at $24.7 million. Warren only raised $21.2 million. She was bested by the party cash leader, Bernie Sanders, at $34.5 million. For socialists, Sanders’ minions seem to have found at least enough money to pay for his Quixotic run for the White House.

These numbers may seen like a lot to you. But as a former political campaign director I can tell you a modern national campaign can go through $100 million before the voting even starts. No? Look at Michael Bloomberg’s media purchases just up to this point, before the first voting starts in Iowa.

He has already well surpassed that mark.

What’s it spent on? Mostly media, logistics, and personnel. Television ad buys don’t come cheap in media markets like New Jersey that boast really only two markets, New York City and Philadelphia. Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago political ad prices, even sometimes the cable buys?

Fougedaboudit.

It also takes a small army of drivers, advance staff, stage crews, digital nerds, oppo jocks, pollsters, media lounge lizards, graying honchos, and a host of others to run a modern presidential campaign. And they all want to be fed, housed when on the road, flown or bused about in a timely manner, and paid semi-well.

In return they will usually work like dogs seven days a week without much sleep. They will run on caffeine and hate and their only solace is that somehow, some way, the coiffed idiot they have hitched their star to doesn’t politically auger into a mountain and they end up with a cushy staff job at some obscure DC federal agency.

These men and women are the true deciders of America’s political fate, because if they drop the ball their clients do too and history is changed.

Welcome to your republic.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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WATCH LIVE: Trump to hold N.J. campaign rally during impeachment trial

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Josh Boak, Associated Press

President Donald Trump is holding a rally Tuesday in Wildwood, New Jersey. It's a Jersey Shore town with few factory jobs to save, a reliance on immigrant workers and an economy that depends on affluent vacationers. It's a studied contrast with Trump's 2018 campaign stops that tended to be further inland in counties that were generally whiter, poorer and less educated than the U.S. as a whole.

David Brooks and Karen Tumulty on Senate impeachment trial and Jim Lehrer

Posted on January 24, 2020 by PBS NewsHour - Politics

New York Times columnist David Brooks and The Washington Post's Karen Tumulty join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week's political news, including how effective House impeachment managers are at making the case for President Trump's removal, the latest 2020 campaign dynamics in Iowa and the loss and legacy of NewsHour co-founder Jim Lehrer.