The 2020 Democratic primary race has been a doozy so far, and we still have over a year to go before Americans head to the polls in the general election.
There are still at least seventeen Democrats seeking the nomination for 2020, but there seems to be viability with only three of these liberals: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Senator Liz Warren, and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Given that Sanders and Warren are near the top of the heap, Democratic contenders have been shamed into playing by some of their rules this go-round. Most notably is the makeup of their donor base, which is, by design, populated by a vast number of small money donors with no corporate money arriving via political action committees.
This is a badge of pride among progressives, and, in eschewing corporate cash, they have given themselves a virtue signaling soapbox to speak from.
But not everyone is cut out for this sort of fundraising revolution.
Joe Biden scoffed at his recent fundraising troubles in a soon-to-be-aired interview with 60 Minutes, claiming his campaign was on course to do “extremely well” — an opinion not shared by his own aides.
The former vice president, who this week reversed his position on accepting help from super PACs, made the remarks when asked by CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell if he still considered himself the Democrat frontrunner. O’Donnell, particularly, noted that Biden had not only lost his polling advantage but had also fallen behind competitors like Sens. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in fundraising.
“I just flat beat them,” Biden responded with a laugh before adding that his campaign was “on a course to do extremely well.” He said, “I’m not worried about being able to fund this campaign. I really am not, truly.”
Biden had attempted to keep pace with the likes of Bernie and Liz via the small-donor scheme, but simply wasn’t not able to make ends meet.
His resorting to PAC and Super PAC money will surely be a stain on his campaign with younger, more radical voters – a group that he will need to call his own if he plans on taking the nomination in the coming months.
