When Pete Buttigieg first decided to run, Vanity Fair reports that he met with Howard Dean to get his advice on how to fund his run. Some people might think it laudable that a young candidate would seek out Dean’s advice. After all, Dean ran a groundbreaking progressive race back in 2004 that pioneered the “small donor” model now used by Sanders to great effect and as DNC Chair Dean pushed the 50 state strategy. So some people might think that Buttigieg’s decision to consult with Dean shows Buttigieg’s laudable openness to seeking and receiving advice from others, as opposed to thinking he has all the answers.
However, Dean, the man who basically invented the strategy of funding a Presidential campaign via small donations over the Internet, the man who raised more money then any other Democrat in 2004 with an average overall donation of just under $80, gave Buttigieg advice that runs counter to the notion that money should only be solicited from small donors.
Dean advised Buttigieg to pursue a two-prong strategy of soliciting donations from both small donors and from established Democrats who are wealthy. More specifically, Dean pointed out to Buttigieg that Dean owed a lot of his fundraising success to support from the gay community. Dean had been the first Governor to sign into law “civil unions,” and he was considered an early important ally to the gay community as a result. Dean recounted this history to Buttigieg, and urged him to seek out support from longtime wealthy supporters of Democratic candidates who cared about gay rights.
Dean may have given this advice because while Dean set new records for Democratic primary fundraising back in 2004, GW Bush had raised over 3x as much. [Trump has got a campaign war chest right now of $82 million!] So maybe Dean has bought into the idea that Democrats need to fight in a manner that takes advantage of all of the fundraising resources available to them.
Now Dean didn’t guarantee Buttigieg that these donors would not support other candidates, but suggested to Buttigieg that he use the same pitch Dean did: “I might not be your first choice, but I’d appreciate some of your support as I try this.”
Yep. Dean encouraged Buttigieg to, of all things, seek out the support of rich Democratic donors so he could try to elevate his profile and see if he could make a go of the race. And you know what? A fair number of those rich Democratic donors, many of them gay, said “sure.” While Buttigieg garnered over $4 million from small donors in the first quarter, some $2.5 million came from large donations of over $200. Yep, acting on Dean’s advice, Buttigieg actually sought out money from rich Democratic donors!
Those rich donors shamelessly aren’t hiding their support of Buttigieg. Vanity Fair reports that movie producer Richie Jackson hosted a finance event for Buttigieg in New York, Buttigieg traveled to Chicago for an event with Democratic donors Eric Janssen and Marco Zerega, and Buttigieg will attend a fund-raising event in the Washington, D.C., area hosted by lobbyist Steve Elmendorf, a Clinton bundler who recently told CNBC that he’s fully in Buttigieg’s corner in the 2020 race. They are all gay. And they are shameless about making large donations to Buttigieg:
“The gay community should speak freely and clearly, and to have someone on the national and international stage is meaningful to us. As a public member of the gay community, it’s an inspiring voice, without a doubt. I have maxed out to Pete because of what you are seeing.”
Nope. They won’t contain themselves to small donations, instead insisting on giving as much money as the law will allow. Why? Vanity Fair provides these quotes:
- “I am old enough to remember when there were no out gay elected officials. What I think about with Pete is that we know that there are 1.5 million L.G.B.T.Q. youth at risk today. My only feeling, as far as being gay, is can you imagine how life-saving and life-changing his election would be for them? Just his running. What a beacon. He is not saying he didn’t struggle. And that it hasn’t been difficult for him. When I think about those young people who need to hear you are worthy and you can do whatever you want, that alone is reason to support him.”
- “There is a feeling of surprise and excitement in the community to see one of our own not just standing up there, but doing so well in the process. It’s exciting for us because it signifies promise. That we are all part of this and we are living the revolution.”
- “You could call it the Obama moment. But he is the right package of characteristics for gay donors. I think he’s striking a chord in the hearts of donors about childhood and the all-American boy. He reminds you a little of one of the kids next door, like he would have been on Father Knows Best. He is not a Ken doll. He has the appeal of Opie Taylor, and then within that persona comes out this really wise and deep and intelligent commentary about the country and the world. And on top of that, he talks about faith. He’s calling for awakening of the religious left. A great number of L.G.B.T. people were thrown out of their places of worship growing up. Pete is grabbing the mantle of spirituality and reclaiming it. There is an undercurrent in the L.G.B.T. world that finds that incredibly moving.
Other sources corroborate Vanity Fair’s reporting that Buttigieg is garnering increasing support from wealthy Democratic donors who are gay and straight, including many Obama and Clinton supporters who view Buttigieg as more compelling than Biden (who by comparison has lost the mantle of Obama’s figurative heir).
Buttigieg’s next fundraising report will likely show a shamelessly massive increase in his coffers. He will be able to buy exposure to his message disproportionate to what he’d have done if he’d gone the small donor only route. It is, again, a shameless attempt to win the election by playing by the rules!
Rufus Gifford, the former ambassador to Denmark who was Obama’s national finance director in 2012, has some thoughts about that in the Vanity Fair expose:
“Buttigieg has to make sure he diversifies his revenue streams just like we did in 2007 and 2008. Early on it was the big supporters that got us to that first number. That wasn’t online money. That was old-school fund-raising, direct mail, and telemarketing. That gets you out of the gate. You should never be reliant on one strain of fund-raising and I think a lot of the campaigns have been doing that. The idea that I can send an e-mail and be good to go? That’s just naive as far as I’m convinced.”
Yep. Buttigieg’s embrace of a practical approach to be competitive in the race has clearly caused him to reject the “small donor only approach.”
We can all be thankful for that.