Money doesn’t win elections. But it makes winning a lot easier—and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is cleaning up.
In September, Donald Trump’s campaign and associated committees raised $160 million, with $283 million cash on hand at the end of the month. That would put his campaign committee’s total fundraising at around $467 million, or $802 million if you include his allied committees and super PACs. (We will have exact numbers toward the end of October, but here are his totals from the end of August.)
Note that in the last presidential cycle, the Trump campaign raised $248 million in September 2020. That means that a tired, exhausted, gassed, spent Trump came up $88 million short of what he raised during the same period in his last campaign.
Still, “88” is very on brand for him.
Oddly, as of Thursday afternoon, Harris hasn’t told the press about her September haul, but by all indications, it looks to have been a blockbuster month. New reporting says that her campaign and its associated committees crossed $1 billion, but somehow, the campaign is worried it doesn’t have enough to win. Apparently, announcing another month in which they double- or triple-up Trump might slow their fundraising, but also … $1 billion. Campaigns still haven’t learned that piling up hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising, which often doesn’t move the needle, isn’t the best use of donor money.
A key factor in Trump’s anemic fundraising is the collapse of his small-dollar donor base.
“Fewer than a third of the Republican’s campaign contributions have come from donors who gave less than $200—down from nearly half of all donations in his 2020 race,” the Associated Press reported on Thursday. “The total collected from small donors has also declined, according to the analysis. Trump raised $98 million from such contributors through June, a 40% drop compared to the $165 million they contributed during a corresponding period in his previous presidential race.”
Money may not win campaigns, but voter engagement and enthusiasm are major factors, and small-dollar donations are a proxy for supporter enthusiasm.
This isn’t the only warning sign for Trump, though. His campaign crowds appear to be shrinking, and the energy at them is downright putrid.
Harris supporters are in the fight, while Trump’s are tuning out. An enthusiastic vote counts the same as an unenthusiastic one, but an enthusiastic supporter is worth infinitely more than a bored, apathetic one.
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