The new rule has spawned creative competition for small donors, with one candidate offering a charitable donation for each $1 given.
By Michael Scherer Michael Scherer National political reporter covering campaigns, Congress and the White House Email Bio Follow March 19 at 5:50 PM The latest turn in the Democratic presidential race looks a bit like an infomercial for a food dehydrator or Ginsu knives. Former congressman John Delaney stands in front of a whiteboard in an online video, pitching voters on a new way to double their money.
Hitting 65,000 has become a magic ticket for many of the party’s presidential candidates, who are struggling to rank in public polls given a field that already has 15 contenders, with several more waiting in the wings. The new criteria have proved to be a boon to lesser-known candidates seeking a national stage this summer and could create challenges for more-established politicians seeking to break away from the pack — with unpredictable repercussions for the party.
The pitches, more focused on growing the number of donors than on raising money, mark a new step in the evolution of presidential campaign fundraising away from high-dollar donations from the wealthy and toward online fundraising from the party’s grass roots. Party leaders have described the incentive for small-dollar donations as a win-win for the party and the candidates, building enthusiasm and adding to voter data that will come in handy during the general election. It is also a more merit-based approach than past criteria, which have looked beyond polling at factors like whether a campaign has opened offices in the early-voting states.
Candidates and campaign teams have been split on the merits of the party plan, even as everyone seems to have accepted the new rules. But Ewing also played down the 65,000 number as “arbitrary,” and she was critical of Delaney’s gambit, which depends on having deep enough pockets to make major donations to charity in the heat of a presidential campaign.
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