“We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem” has been a long term conservative talking point. It’s mostly used when conservative discuss hard choices that need to be made about runaway federal spending.
Hillary Clinton, who would fundamentally disagree, is learning just how true it is. Her campaign is running through cash at a rapid rate:
Hillary Clinton narrowly edged out Bernie Sanders in third quarter fundraising, but she was in a class all by herself when it came to blowing through campaign cash, according to a POLITICO analysis of reports filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.
The analysis raises red flags about whether Clinton’s increasingly tapped-out big donor base can maintain her massive campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, which spent $26 million ― more than twice that of any other presidential candidate ― between the beginning of July and the end of September. During that stretch, she dramatically expanded her campaign infrastructure, spending more than most of her rivals on payroll-related costs ($8.6 million), polling ($1.6 million in payments and unpaid bills) and office space ($641,000 in rent).
Clinton has worked to avoid the financial quagmire that ensnared her 2008 presidential campaign, which relied on major donors to support an increasingly bloated infrastructure, and became racked with debt.
Clinton has access to the major fundraisers, but she’s getting killed by upstart rival Bernie Sanders, who has run a grassroots campaign that relies heavily on small donors. As CNN notes:
Sanders has now received donations from 650,000 people — only 270 of whom have given the maximum allowed $2,700. The average donation was $30.
Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager, noted that the candidate can go back to those people for more cash. “Bernie’s big base of small donors may give again and again,” he said. “What is clear now is that this campaign to transform America will have the resources to fight all the way to the convention.”
Sanders leads Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire, and if decisive victories in these states give him momentum, large donors might start looking for an alternative to Clinton.
Enter Joe Biden. The Vice President is well liked by the base, and is not considered as extreme as the independent socialist Sanders. Biden has been reaching out to activists in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina and seems more likely than not to jump in:
The vice president has been making clear that his family is fully supportive of him jumping into the 2016 race, according to people familiar with the calls. They are guided by the belief that he has the best chance of keeping the White House in Democratic hands and he could forever regret taking a pass at another shot at the presidency.
The new round of calls this week — from the vice president himself, not simply his top advisers — suggest Biden is finally moving toward announcing a decision. He has been down this road before, inching close to a run but pulling back, so his next steps are far from certain.
Biden is likely to cull votes from both Sanders and Clinton, but his ability to draw big fundraisers from Clinton is what should worry her.
AAN Staff
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