The Harris Fundraising Gift Worth So Much More Than Money

All that glitters isn’t gold

In more than 50 years actively involved in politics, I’ve never seen anything like this. LBJ declined to seek a second term, the Democrats had a disastrous police riot convention in Chicago, and limped out never to recover. Nixon had to step down in shame with an impeachment conviction as well as possible criminal charges nipping at his heels, and Gerald Ford never had a chance at a full term. George McGovern had to drop Alan Eagleton as his running mate when it surfaced that Eagleton had mental issues, and the campaign sank like a stone.

But never have I seen a major political party with an existential crisis that threatened to turn the DNC in Chicago into a 1968 redux, minus the police riot, and send the party into a political wilderness that democracy itself might not survive.

And in 48 short hours, thanks to a noble, selfless, and patriotic announcement from President Biden, not only is the internal revolt over, but the Big Tent Party is now sitting united around a campfire, singing Kumbaya.

Biden didn’t just hand the torch to Harris, he handed her the Olympic torch. And the result has been nothing short of miraculous. Harris is raking in the endorsements. Every serious floor fight challenger has bowed out to endorse Harris instead, and today she announced that she has sufficient pledges from Biden delegates to secure the nomination in the first ballot.

The grassroots support has been phenominal. Today Harris announced that in the first two days, the campaign had received a US presidential record $100 million, with an amazing 60,000 small money donors making their first donation of the campaign season. Act Blue and Founding Forward both had record single day hauls. And two black women’s grassroots groups held combination virtual rallies/conference calls. They were so swamped with calls that they had to open up a second screen for the overflow, and each raised more than $1 million.

Make no doubts, the cash haul is critical, but not so much in the way you may think. Big money is no longer the King that it once was. In the digital age television and radio advertising is expensive and increasingly ineffective. Mailing fliers are basically useless, since nobody not waiting for either a check or a bill even bothers to check their mailboxes more than once every two weeks or so. We don’t.

Traitor Tot used his conviction and nomination acceptance to amass more than $100 million. But almost all of that went directly to Il Douche, and he ain’t sharing. The RNC, RCCC and RNSC are cash starved, but El Pendejo ex Presidente needs that loot for his stifling legal expenses. And as a result the Trump campaign has decided to dump all on-the-ground canvassing and community outreach efforts, going totally digital instead, much cheaper, if anybody bothers to watch.

Which is a fatal mistake. because ever since politics started, even when cash was King, it has always been boots-on-the-ground activism that has been the most precious commodity in a political campaign. After all, you can always hang up the phone, toss the junk mails, and even delete e-mails and texts, but when someone knocks on your door, or approaches you in a Walmart parking lot, simple courtesy makes it more likely that you’ll engage. And that’s the opening.

Which leads us to the enthusiasm gift in the Harris surge that money can’t buy. As I wrote yesterday, in the last month or so before Biden’s departure, the Biden-Harris campaign was averaging about 200 calls a day from people wanting to volunteer on the ground for the campaign. But the campaign announced today that in the last two days, more than 60,000 people had contacted the campaign to volunteer on the ground.

And that’s where the incredible donation cash haul for the campaign comes in. It takes $$$ to open up field offices and hire staff to train and supervise phone bankers. It takes $$$ to open up local offices and hire staff to train and supervise people hitting the streets to canvass door-to-door and register voters in Walmart parking lots. And it takes $$$ to open storefront district offices and staff to engage walk-ins off the street. And thanks to President Biden’s heroic decision, not only do the DNC and the Harris campaign have money to burn, so do a lot of local grassroots organizations.

Trump’s criminal lawyers may be eating steak, but down ballot GOP incumbents and candidates will be eating macaroni-and-cheese without the milk and butter. Not only is there no functional national GOP ground game, but in critical swing states like MI, MN, NV and AZ, the actual GOP state parties are either stony broke, or in bankruptcy. There aren’t even functional state parties to try to get out the vote. MAGA militants in the state offices scared away all of the stiffs.

Meanwhile, the DNC and the Harris campaign can funnel cash to the DCCC and the DSCC to help in critical races. More importantly, they can offer on the ground grassroots support to those candidates, starting with 60,000 volunteers, which simple math assays out to about 1100 volunteers per state.

And that’s why I’m bullish that not only will Kamala Harris crush Traitor Tot like a cigarette butt on election night, but the Democrats will hold the Senate, and have a 2018 blue tsunami redux in the House. The pieces are all in place, and the grassroots are motivated. Don’t touch that dial.

I thank you for the privilege of your time.

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