Top Republican donors know now that Donald Trump is toast and their only hope is to keep a bought Congress. So they're throwing money around like it's going out of style to try to keep their firewall.
Disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday revealed tens of millions of dollars in late donations and transfers to Republican “super PACs” focused on down-ballot races, suggesting a significant last-ditch effort to protect Senate and House candidates against Mrs. Clinton’s surge. Relatively little new money has come into outside groups supporting Mr. Trump. […]
“I hear that people are concerned that Hillary’s going to be president, so you’d better get Republicans in the Senate so you have a firewall,” said Stanley Hubbard, a Minnesota billionaire who became one of the country’s biggest Trump donors this year. “I think people are done giving. It’s too late.”
Thursday’s filings are a clear sign that the Republican establishment has all but abandoned Mr. Trump — a painful concession that Mrs. Clinton’s electoral advantage may be insurmountable. And the biggest beneficiaries are Republicans in the Senate and the House, who have been goaded by Democrats in recent weeks to declare allegiance to the Republican nominee or renounce him.
What that means is that in just the past week—one week!—Mitch McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund took in $25 million, on top of the $18 million they garnered in the first three weeks of October. The only saving grace is that it's late money which is harder to use—there's less ad time available. But that's a lot of walking-around money for Election Day, and it's enough that they can spend indiscriminately. And indiscriminate these donors are. One in Wisconsin has just put $4 million to use trying to derail Russ Feingold.
Harry Reid's Senate Majority PAC reported raising $19.2 million during the first three weeks of October, so there's enthusiasm for this take-back, too. But parity isn't good enough, not when the stakes as are high as they are in this election. President Clinton is going to need a Congress that has her back, and the panic on the Republican side clearly shows that it's in the cards.
Can you chip in $3 to each of these candidates to turn the Senate blue? Our slate of House candidates would make good use of your cash, too.
2016 can be a “blue wave” election—where many progressive champions win their House & Senate races. Click here to join Daily Kos and PCCC to make phone calls to targeted voters in special races.