As the Democratic National Convention approaches, the stakes remain high as the party remains split on whether Biden should be the nominee or somebody else, such as Vice President Kamala Harris.
My prediction is that he will not step aside unless one of two things happens: his health, unfortunately, becomes worse, or the money from his mega-donors does not only halt but dries up.
Biden's Fundraising Falls Over a Cliff: 'Disastrous,' 'The Money Has Absolutely Shut Off'
As long as money influences politics, it will be a crucial factor in determining whether a candidate remains in the race, and in this case, Biden will need to rely on his mega-donors as Democrat voters continue to sour on Biden due to the growing risk daily of him losing to Trump in November.
According to NBC, Biden's campaign donations have taken a big hit, which only spells trouble for the president.
Absolutely Damning NBC Report!
— Joel Weingart (@JoelWeingart_) July 10, 2024
Biden campaign fundraising takes a major hit.
• "It's already disastrous."
• "The money has absolutely shut off."
• "Donors are negative. They had a call with the president. The call seemed so contrived to people, I don’t think they buy it."…
You simply cannot win a presidential election without strong funding from several different sources, usually consisting of small individual donations and large donations from folks such as LinkedIn co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman or former New York City Mayor and philanthropist Mike Bloomberg.
Here’s major Democratic donor and lawfare funder Reid Hoffman gaslighting the public about Biden’s mental acuity just two weeks before the debate:
— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) June 29, 2024
“I’ve had a two hour lunch with Biden. It’s very popular to say “he’s old, he’s not cognitively with it.” In a two hour… pic.twitter.com/jq9YB3DVGm
Donors like Hoffman will back Biden as long as he remains in the race. However, as reported earlier, billionaire, philanthropist, and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso has said he would halt any donations to the Biden campaign until he gets more clarity from them following Biden's horrific debate performance. Although his donations to Biden have hit a pause, he will continue to fund down-ballot Democrat candidates, which gives those candidates a big boost in terms of the way they can market themselves and paint their opponents any way they believe will help them win.
Caruso co-hosted a multimillion-dollar fundraiser in December, similar to actor George Clooney, who also hosted a fundraiser for Biden. Now, they are both urging Biden to step aside. If more people speak out and stop donating, Biden will have no choice but to drop out.
I deeply respect Joe Biden's lifetime of service to our country. But the argument @LATstevelopez makes in this column is the right one. In this critical time, in this vital election, stepping aside is the right and honorable thing for President Biden to do.… pic.twitter.com/P87aocYrj7
— Rick J. Caruso (@RickCarusoLA) July 6, 2024
The GOP's "problem" will be that if Biden steps aside, the mega-donors who have paused their donations will resume them and give them to whoever the DNC decides should run against former President Trump because, at the end of the day, these mega-donors' ultimate goal is to keep Trump away from the White House.
Money should be out of politics for various reasons, but most importantly, because it takes power away from the people. It also should not be a key indicator of who will win an election based on how much money they spend on ads, but unfortunately, that's the reality of politics.
However, since it is a key indicator in today's politics, the more Democrat officials, voters, and mega-donors speak out publicly against Biden and, more importantly, halt donations, it's evident Biden will have no choice but to step aside and actually pass the torch. On the other hand, if the donations continue to pour in, he will likely remain in the race through the election.
