Aldous J Pennyfarthing on The Daily Kos has some remarks on Trump’s Troops that are interesting, although I’m not entirely certain who he’s quoting:
Many of the GOP candidates Trump is backing in open-seat races are struggling to raise significant funds as well against better-funded opponents—and every single one of the GOP candidates Trump has endorsed against a GOP incumbent is getting crushed in fundraising, according to newly released campaign finance reports.
Oh, things aren’t going quite so swimmingly for Bone Spurious the Betrayer? Let’s see. Should I take pity on the big, dopey animal or … go in a different direction?
How should I put this? …
Even strong-performing Trump allies are getting lapped in fundraising. Trump-backed Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker raised almost $5.4 million in the past three months and has about the same amount in the bank. That’s a huge haul, but Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock far outpaced him, bringing in $9.8 million in the same time period. Warnock has $22.9 million in the bank for what’s sure to be one of this cycle’s most expensive Senate races.
Every single one of the House candidates Trump has endorsed against a GOP incumbent is getting shellacked in fundraising as well.
Oh, but that’s not all.
Rep. Mo Brooks, who’s running for U.S. Senate with Trump’s endorsement, raised less than $400,000 from October through December, and two of his primary opponents, Katie Boyd Britt and Mike Durant, each have $4 million war chests—double Brooks’ $2 million in reserves.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted to impeach Trump last year—thereby rousing his black, bloodless knot of a heart to something resembling movement—has $4.3 million in the bank, or seven times her opponent Kelly Tshibaka’s meager $634,000 haul.
And there’s more, but that’s enough. The interesting question is: Why?
Is MAGA cult members becoming tapped out?
Are they losing interest in politics?
Or are the endorsees simply so repulsive that they can’t attract strong donations?
I’m going for the last, but that’s a case of confirmation bias; I think we’ll have to wait to see what the real answer might be. Regardless, while votes are not usually buyable, they do bring attention to candidates. A failure to attract money is like a corpse not attracting flies: What’s going on here, and do we need to worry about it?
