We have read literally dozens of articles in recent months about how Democratic presidential candidates are courting black voters in South Carolina.
You know … former vice president Joe Biden’s peeps.
So far, though, these candidates are encountering very little in the way of success with black voters … with the lone exception of U.S. senator Kamala Harris of California.
One reason for their collective futility? Early-state voters know where these candidates go to get their bread buttered: And it isn’t in their backyards. The vast majority of Democratic presidential bids are being underwritten by liberal donors in two states, California and New York. According to first quarter filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), support for 2020 candidates from donors in early-voting states is virtually nonexistent.
At this point in his 2008 presidential bid, former U.S. president Barack Obama had raised an estimated $155,000 from donors in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.
No one in the 2020 field has come close to hitting that mark. Or half that mark. Harris brought in $76,700 from the four early-voting states during the first quarter, while U.S. senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont netted just over $70,000. South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg raised only around $60,000 from early-state donors, according to his first quarter filing.
Meanwhile, U.S. senator Cory Booker of New Jersey – who has spent perhaps the most time of any 2020 contender in these four early-voting states – took in just $33,300 from donors within their borders.
By contrast, Harris raised a whopping $5.2 million from donors in New York and California, while Booker netted $2.9 million from donors in those two states. Sanders and Buttigieg raised roughly $1 million apiece from California and New York donors.
Spotting the trend?
[su_dominion_video_scb]Our guess is Biden’s entry into the race will boost the Democrats overall fundraising number (and perhaps even diversify their geographic donor base a little bit) … but this badly divided party has a potential problem on its hands.
And not just with regard to its candidates’ bottom lines …
“Am I worried? No … but I’m a little bit concerned,” one former advisor to Hillary Clinton told The Associated Press recently, referring to lagging liberal financial support.
Conversely, U.S. president Donald Trump raised more than $30 million during the first quarter of 2019 and has banked nearly $41 million since launching his reelection. On top of that, the Republican National Committee (RNC) ended the month of March with $33.1 million on hand – more than tripling the $9.3 million national Democrats have in their bank account.
To be clear: We fully expect Democrats to be financially competitive in the 2020 election cycle, especially once the 23-candidate clown car masquerading as a primary election thins out (which is happening as we speak). The question is whether their financial competitiveness will ever extend beyond the bicoastal liberal enclaves of New York City and the California coast.
“It’s unsurprising that the Democrats 2020 message is failing to connect with voters in early primary states,” RNC state director Joseph Jackson told us. “While their message of government overreach, infanticide and higher taxes may appeal to millionaire backers in California and New York, it won’t get them very far with everyday voters here in South Carolina.”
We concur …
-FITSNews
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