Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Trump ends big-money fundraisers that were boosting GOP
This article is about how Donald Trump has scheduled no more high-dollar fundraisers between now and the election. The campaign is still raising a lot of money thanks to online donations and other RNC members who are fundraising for the entire GOP ticket. Trump's financial chairman said that they want to focus on talking to voters instead of holding these fundraising events. The Trump campaign says they are raising enough money online, but only 20% of online donations go to the RNC. What does this decisions show about the relationship between Trump and the RNC, if anything? Do you think this will prove to be an effective strategy?
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While at first glance, it seems as though Trump would be a fool to not continue holding fundraising events in a similar way that Clinton is, with other high-profile people running them, his reasons are clarified somewhat later in the article. The fact that Trump's campaign keeps 80% of online donations, while it pockets much less than the RNC does during Trump Victory events, means that Trump is far less likely to fundraise at the latter of the events. Trump has been very anti-establishment since the beginning of his campaign, and it seems as though he has no plans to change. He and the RNC are at odds with each other, with him being far from the RNC's first choice for presidential candidate; however, it still seems ill-advised to avoid holding Trump Victory events, because they could only benefit him in the long run, even if the majority of funds received will go to the RNC.
ReplyDeleteTrump and the RNC aren't exactly on the same page, so it's not surprising that he's choosing the option that requires less work and benefits his particular campaign more than the GOP ticket as a whole. With the election so close and his campaign so unstable, it's difficult to have high profile events when most of his" profile" is negative.
ReplyDeleteTrump's reasons for not continuing to hold fundraising events are clarified as the article goes on, and they are not completely illogical. Trump is apparently focusing on speaking to the public and getting his "message" out there in the final weeks of the election. With the election just a little over a week away, both candidates are solidifying a final strategy. Trump spends less on advertising than Hillary to begin with, so his choice to stop fundraising events in the final 10 days does not surprise me.
ReplyDeleteTrump and the RNC's views on fundraising are different. Trump plans to stop fundraising so he can focus on speaking to potential voters and getting his message out there. However, the RNC needs the fundraising money so they can afford field staffers to encourage people to vote for the Republican ticket, and because they are only getting 20% of the money raised, they may have trouble affording to hire field staffers.
ReplyDeleteGiven that Trump and the GOP are not cooperating very well, it is unsurprising that Trump has decided to favor fundraisers that benefit his campaign instead of the GOP. Trump gets 80% of the funds from online donations and has to do relatively little compared to a Trump Victory event. While he may experience a drop in funding, this enables Trump to spend more time on other things, such as promoting his message in the final weeks before Election Day. This may be a smart choice for Trump, but it comes at the expense of the Republican Party.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised that Trump is choosing to focus on himself rather than the party. The RNC is only getting 20% of the money raised, yet they're the ones who need to spend money to promote the Republican ticket. Trump doesn't need the money as badly as the others do, since he can appeal to people through all of the media attention. However, the other candidates on the Republican ticket don't get as much recognition as Trump. His decision to focus on his message is smart, as it's his last chance to appeal to the undecided voters. I find it funny that he has only donated $56 million when he pledged $100 million. That shows his incapability to live up to his word, even when the outcome would benefit him. Imagine what it would be like if the outcome regarded an entire country.
ReplyDeleteThis is another thing that shows just how unusual Trump's campaign is. He started his fundraising extremely late and is ending it really early, and also he is ending it on a very unorganized note. Clinton has many things planned and Trump has nothing planned. I suppose that it's nice that he's working more on trying to get his message out there, but it's a little concerning that he's only thinking about himself rather than the party as a whole while doing so. The fact about the RNC is only getting 20% of his online donations is interesting to me, because he has strayed pretty far from what one would consider someone who really embodies the Republican Party, so it makes sense that they're at odds.
ReplyDeleteMr. Trump's decision to focus more on spreading his message than fundraising makes sense. A big part of his campaign strategy is connecting to people who feel isolated by political elites. I can already imagine Mr. Trump criticizing Secretary Clinton for spending time with wealthy political insiders while he met with common people. Considering his relationship with the RNC, I believe that the RNC is simply trying to survive the election without fracturing and losing seats in Congress.
ReplyDeleteAnyone can see that Trump and the RNC have not always been on the same page. I think this decision by Trump is just another one that says he is not a traditional candidate. His strategy has always been less about raising money and more about getting people to believe what he's saying. At this point, I also feel like he has a set amount of supporters and his campaign is no longer about getting more through spending money, so why would he need to fundraise.
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ReplyDeleteI feel like Trump has already done enough to make an impression so he doesn't need to do anything more. As well, he does not have good relations with the RNC, considering that most Republicans don't like him. I feel like doing more is not going to do much because he has set group of supporters that have stuck with him this whole time and there is no use on spending more money...
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't exactly been on great terms with the rest of the party, or the RNC for that matter so while I think that I agree with Abby that he is being lazy and not going to collect more money for the party, he also might be spiting the rest of the RNC and Party by not taking extra or giving people a chance to pour money on him.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of action isn't much of a surprise at this point to be honest. Trump and the GOP are already on shaky terms and do not have each others back. Considering the fact that numerous Republicans have already come out and denounced Trump, I wouldn't think that Trump would be willing to return a favor to the same party. By shifting fundraising to an online platform, he can directly control more of the revenue and spite the GOP for their lack of support towards him. While personally I find his actions disgusting and selfish, I can understand why he is making this shift based upon his personality alone.
ReplyDeleteTrump doesn't need anyone to fund him so if it benefits him more to stop going out and spending time getting more money for the party, it makes logical sense that he stopped. After being denounced by several Republicans, I doubt he feels any real allegiance to the party. I don't think that this is a "strategy". I think he just doesn't feel like raising money for the party and won't since he doesn't need the party for support.
ReplyDeleteThis indicates that Trump doesn't really need any funding considering his net worth of about $3.7 billion. So it's not surprising that Trump took this kind of action, if anything, he benefits from it.
ReplyDeleteVery Trump! Why continue to have party fundraisers when you can just spend your own money disregarding if anyone actually supports you, and then just drain your party's money so you don't have to make an effort.
ReplyDeleteTrump is too over his head to want to continue to have fundraisers. Trump and the RNC have had kind of tense relationship during this entire election so I'm not surprised he would branch out financially on his own for the most part .
ReplyDeletePaul Ryan has probably gotten like 12 hours of sleep in the past few months. Relationships inside the GOP are so strained right now, despite having the presidency and a majority in congress, it's ridiculous. There's gridlock amongst the republican party by itself, even without the help of democrats! It's not just money that the RNC and Trump disagree on, its some of the fundamental ideologies that the party platform judges itself on. I'm just gonna sit back and watch and possibly laugh or cry depending on how badly the nation is screwed for the foreseeable future.
ReplyDeleteThis shows that Trump can easily support himself, with a net worth of close to $4 billion. He was not on the same terms with RNC and this action shows. He does not need the hassle of fundraisers, when he can easily support himself.
ReplyDeleteI think that anybody could have guessed that this would happen with the way the election was going. It's clear that there is a disconnect between Trump and the RNC, so it's not a surprise that he chose to go his own way with his spending.
ReplyDelete