Compare and contrast: Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden are both focusing attention on the Georgia Senate runoffs. But at his Tuesday event in the state, Biden is not likely to publicly attack or solicit primary challenges against members of his own party, as Trump did when he held a rally ostensibly focused on winning the runoffs. And Biden is not, as Trump is, using Georgia as an excuse to raise money for himself.
Trump keeps blasting out appeals like “We MUST defend Georgia from the Dems!” and “I need YOU to secure a WIN in Georgia,” but if you click the fundraising link and donate, almost all of the money goes to Trump’s new PAC, with just a small amount going to the Republican National Committee and none to the candidates.
Biden has helped raise money for the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, and has about 50 staffers tasked “to help with efforts on the ground during the runoff, including organizing, outreach to critical constituencies, and voter contact—particularly in suburban Atlanta and smaller cities where the President-elect overperformed in November.”
Republicans other than Trump are pouring money into Georgia in an effort to hold the Senate. But Trump is not interested in helping anyone but himself. He’ll do a rally here and there for Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler because it feeds his ego to do so, but when it comes to dollars—those are for Trump.
”Money is speech, and if it can get to the right place it should be used. But if it’s going to [Trump's] leadership PAC and not being spent on the behalf of David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler I think that’s problematic,” said the head of one Georgia-focused Republican super PAC.
Of course Republicans have plenty of other money to spend in Georgia. But they have a bigger problem in Trump, with their party’s biggest voice and biggest fundraiser unwilling to ever take one for the team. It’s a richly deserved problem, and may it plague them for years to come.
Ready to reach voters in Georgia, whether by phonebanking or textbanking, for the Jan. 5 runoff? Click to sign up for a training with Fair Fight—the voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams—and they will set you up with what you need to start effectively reaching out to Georgia voters.
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