A lot is being made of a report by the Washington Post concerning the GOP's fundraising, or rather, its lack thereof, but maybe they should hold off on the gloating.
To hear WaPo tell it, there's been a severe lag in donations to the RNC, putting the amount the party has at a worrisome number compared to a DNC that's far more flush with cash:
The Republican National Committee disclosed that it had $9.1 million in cash on hand as of Oct. 30, the lowest amount for the RNC in any Federal Election Commission report since February 2015. That compares with about $20 million at the same point in the 2016 election cycle and about $61 million four years ago, when Trump was in the White House.
The Democratic National Committee reported having $17.7 million as of Oct. 30, almost twice as much as the Republican Party, with one year before the election.
To be sure, the lack of midterm victories after a promised "red wave" has likely shaken the faith of some donors, and there are some who agree that this is troubling news, even at this site, but by no means should the DNC, or the media for that matter, get cocky.
Firstly, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel had a solid point about what might be holding those RNC donations back as WaPo reported:
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel made a point that actually rings true as WaPo did include in their article: In an interview, McDaniel said that donors are currently more focused on giving to individual candidates during the presidential primary and that the party’s fortunes will improve once there’s a nominee.
“I think there’s more donors just fully committed to their candidate right now, saying I am all in, and once the nominee is set, I’ll be there. That’s what I hear more than anything. And they’re really solidly in the camps of their candidate, which is normal,” McDaniel said. “There’s nothing unusual about this, because they know that once their candidate gets in that we will merge and that we’ll be working together to win the White House.”
This is likely true. The GOP is a hotly contested field right now, with many people donating to their respective candidates. With former President Donald Trump being the frontrunner, it's likely that a lot of money went to him, and if not him, then to the other candidates in an attempt to help them catch up.
In my last report about donation fillings in October, Trump had raised $25 million between July 1 and September 30. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had raised $11 million. As for everyone else, they're waiting to donate because they see an inevitability down the line in Trump:
“It’s becoming clear the cavalry’s not coming,” said Ken Spain, a longtime GOP strategist who advises the business interests on Washington. “The donor community has come to recognize the strength of Trump and the difficulty in dislodging a major part of the base from him. You’re tilting at windmills if you try.”
Rob Collins, who co-chairs a super PAC supporting South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, wrote in a new memo to donors that it was making a move that “would be obvious in the business world” by canceling much of its planned advertising this fall.
“This electorate is locked up,” he wrote, according to a copy of the document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, adding that Republicans who oppose Trump would be “wasting money” until the GOP field thins.
Whether the final nominee ends up being Trump or not, many Republicans are withholding their funds until that nominee is picked. Once that nominee is named, however, the likelihood of a rush of cash is high and could eclipse that of the DNC.
It's likely that a Trump nomination will bring in the most cash to the DNC purely from knee-jerk reactions of dyed-in-the-wool leftists, but judging by Trump's popularity, the RNC may very well keep pace.
One thing the WaPo article did not mention was Joe Biden's campaign and the DNC's situation.
What is not being talked about is the fact that the DNC shut down the competition and declared Biden the defacto winner and nominee. No arguing allowed. This naturally allowed all donations to flow into one singular place, making it seem like the DNC is doing very well.
But as noted by The Hill, when you add up the cash being funneled to RNC sister committees vs Democrat committees, Republicans are actually doing a little better:
Republicans note that without transfers and when comparing the RNC’s sister committees and Democratic committees, the RNC beats the other committees in direct fundraising by $10 million, with the exception of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Additionally, the party noted that when comparing the RNC’s current fundraising to the DNC’s fundraising without an incumbent in 2020 and 2016, the RNC is either on par with the DNC or outraising it.
All said, the media seems to be celebrating prematurely. Either that, or they're trying to demoralize Republicans by making it seem like there's just no gas in the tank, and resistance is hopeless.
In truth, the Democrats are probably not as safe as they think and the clock is counting down to a point where there will be a real fight on their hands.
