This caught my eye:
Dollars are the real polls right now.
We’re DOUBLE where President Obama was at this point in his re-election.
Americans are fired up for @realDonaldTrump, and they’re already putting their money behind him for 2020! pic.twitter.com/rNBA1ND750
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) October 6, 2019
While it’s true that money makes winning elections easier, it’s not a deciding factor. A poor candidate, an outstanding message, a big scandal – these can all diminish the influence of money on an election.
Nor does it a reliable proxy for popularity. A few big donations can disguise the fact that the entity receiving them is actually not very popular.
But, y’see, money is the lazy man’s proxy. It doesn’t have to be persuaded and cozied up to, it doesn’t ask questions of your awful ideology or candidate, and it doesn’t suddenly defect to the other side. McDaniel can play it up all she wants, but all it really shows, for the discerning observer, is discomfiture with how only big donors are coming through.
And those are, sadly, often extremist zealots, ready to commit their all to a campaign, certain of their rectitude (or all in on their abandonment of principles).
