Biden's attention on the return of the big donors



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JBiden focuses on old-fashioned fundraising tactics, such as face-to-face events with well-heeled donors, at the expense of smaller but more abundant online donations, suggesting that his approach A crucial part of the presidential victory misses.

The 2020 campaign of the former vice president recently launched a frantic call for supporters, highlighting the success of the Vermont senator's campaign, Bernie Sanders, a Democratic Socialist activist whose campaign was almost entirely fueled by small donors. Sanders, whose support in polls has plateaued in recent months, is behind the creation of an impressive digital fundraising operation, which currently has nearly 30 million cash, while Biden had a little less than $ 11 million.

Biden's campaign calendars frequently list his fundraising events, organized in venues such as the Long Island Hamptons in New York, Sun Valley (Idaho) and La Jolla (California), areas that are among the most more expensive of the country.

In a sense, this is not surprising for a 76 year old candidate, first elected to the Senate in 1972, at the age of 29. During Biden's 36 years in the House, mingling with generous donors was a natural way to spend money on the campaign.

"When Biden went into politics, the word" base "was not even invented, it does nothing to excite the base, which is why fundraising at the local level should be worrying", said Democratic strategist Scott Ferson at Washington Examiner. "His strategy for winning the primary is just power, but the fuel is low, his self-confidence is rather old, so they are not very innovative," in terms of fundraising strategies.

The lack of small donors raises concerns in the Biden campaign, already hyper-focused on fundraising due to the assumption that the Democratic primary would last a long time, in addition to the likely war chest of President Trump's reelection , of a billion dollars, according to those who know Biden well. think who spoke with the Washington Examiner.

"Look at someone like Buttigieg's money in reserve [totaled at $22.6 million as of July 1]. It's higher than Biden's. This is really worrying for the Biden campaign, "said a former campaign manager of Biden's former president, President Barack Obama. For the moment, Biden does not have the infrastructure needed to beat Trump. The reality is that we are dealing with a 76 year old man. This should keep the Democrats awake at night. "

Biden's focus on wealthy donors also opened to left-wing critics, who pointed to the optics of denouncing income inequality in multi-million dollar apartments in Manhattan. Candidates such as Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have gradually shook Biden's leadership in early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire by avoiding private fundraisers.

In addition to generating a lack of enthusiasm from its own base, Biden's slow campaign schedule has also angered major Democratic constituencies. Even this week, the news was announced that Biden would not attend the summer meeting of the Democratic National Committee in San Francisco. Meanwhile, 13 other Democrats from 2020 agreed to speak to delegates at the event.

In June, Biden was one of the only candidates to have decided not to participate in the Convention on the Democratic States of California. This has led activists to ignore "Where is Joe?" flyers and even excuses from Biden.

A Washington Examiner An analysis conducted in June revealed that Biden was organizing half of the events of his rivals, while he had no daily work, like Sense. Sanders and Warren, as well as several other elected representatives of the Democratic area of ​​2020.

Behind the closed doors of his fundraisers, Biden ignored local journalists for the benefit of his small group of campaign pool journalists. Even in these smaller and more intimate meetings, Biden delivered some of his most memorable gaffes in the campaign.

At a fundraiser in Seattle in June, Biden sparked public jibes after claiming that homophobia was systematically tolerated until 2014.

The same month, at a separate fundraiser in Manhattan, Biden recalled his time working with segregationist Democrats in the Senate. These remarks continued to haunt his campaign and were responsible for his brief fallback in the polls after Harris confronted him in the first round of primary Democratic debates.

Funds generated by new, more innovative online techniques are relatively scarce. A Politico analysis of the former vice president's digital fundraising figures revealed that over 60% of the $ 13.2 million that Biden had collected online had been collected during the first week of his campaign, in April. Although Biden has raised more than $ 20 million in total, much of this money comes from lavish dinners and cocktails that massively engage the rich.

By the end of June, Biden's median online fundraising amounted to $ 67,000, but lower than that of 2020, as South Bend, mayor of Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, 186 000 USD, Sanders, 127 000 USD and Warren, 75 000 USD.

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