With Friends Like These...

Timothy Birdnow

The GOPe donor class is throwing in the towel, admitting there is no alternative to Trump.

Big GOP donors hoped for an alternative to Trump. Now some are giving up..

They are taking their ball and going home.

But increasingly, it’s become evident to a large segment of the donor class that salvation isn’t coming. And in a lopsided primary, their money matters less than ever.

And so, many of these uber-wealthy donors are keeping their wallets closed.

"Trump’s like 50 points ahead,” said one New York-based GOP fundraiser, granted anonymity to speak freely about the state of play. "Who wants to get involved and waste money?”

The hesitation to give is already having an impact on Republican super PACs, which are not bound by the limits of regulated political campaigns. Across all such groups focused on the GOP presidential primary, only 66 individual donors made contributions of $250,000 or more through the end of June — the latest period covered by federal filing deadlines, according to a POLITICO analysis of committee filings from the Federal Election Commission.

That marks a 24 percent drop from this time in 2016, when the party last had a competitive primary. At this point in that cycle, 87 donors had given at least $250,000 to one of the candidates’ super PACs, the analysis found.

The sidelining of big donors, meanwhile, is doing nothing to hurt Trump, who has become the alpha by running a small-dollar fundraising campaign.

The super PAC supporting the former president has received relatively few major donations this year. But through the end of June, Trump’s joint fundraising committee reported raising $23.7 million from donors giving less than $200 — more than twice the grassroots donations of all other GOP candidates combined.

So The Donald is fundraising like crazy and his opponents aren't. What does that tell us?

It says the rank and file of the GOP is all on board with Mr. Trump and the mandarins of money and power are losers.

Watch out though; they'll pull some nasty trick on Trump, or will  refuse to support him in the end.

With friends like these...

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 04:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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