Donald
Trump’s greatest claim to fame is that he is rich beyond all imagining. There
is thus a rich (pardon the expression) irony emerging in the presidential
contest. Because Trump is not in fact rich beyond all imagining, Trump is
facing a very real challenge having enough money to run a campaign.
We have
discussed this issue before http://mcfd2016.blogspot.com/2016/05/can-donald-trump-raise-money-he-needs.html. But it is important to repeat and
expand this claim because the reports about his fundraising over the last month
have not been good. The big donors don’t seem to be there. Trump had one major
fundraiser in Los Angeles but did not announce a fundraising total. We are also
seeing stories like this one http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-money-idUSKCN0YV1NV?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social.
In it, there are lots of complaints from donors about Trump but
no dollar commitments from donors for Trump. Trump’s comments this past
week about the Mexican-American judge who is presiding over his fraud trial have
not been helpful. Big donors hear that and wonder why they would possibly want
to be part of this campaign.
Trump’s
efforts with small donors don’t seem to be going any better. He has yet to
incorporate into his speeches a line begging his supporters for small donations.
It is really hard for him to do that because
part of his appeal to his small army of supporters is that they believe he is
so rich he does not need them.
As a result
of these problems, Trump has gone from saying, “I am going to raise a ton of
money,” to “I don’t really need money, others think I do.”
The latter attitude is wrong. A real campaign knocks on doors
and drives turnout. It defends itself against an opponent’s television blitz.
When an opponent attacked Trump with serious resources in Wisconsin, Trump was
beaten badly. That the Republican establishment ran out of gas was surprising
but it does not mean money is meaningless. To win, Trump needs the demographics
of the electorate to change a bit. Without resources, Trump is just praying for
a different electorate, not working for it.
We will know
more at the end of the month, or maybe mid-July, about Trump’s ability to
fundraise, but it seems like there is no good news for him on this front.
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