On the day before Donald Trump’s State of the Union oration, I received an e-mail from his son, Don Jr.
“Lawrence,” the note began, “my father asked me to reach out because he noticed your name was MISSING from the list of supporters whose names will be broadcast live during tomorrow night’s State of the Union address.
“Do you not stand with my father?”
The missive, a fundraising request, was one of many e-mails I’ve been getting from Mr. Trump, his son and others on Team Trump the past few months.
Not being an American and not being a Republican, it’s puzzling that I’m on their potential donor list. But it sheds a bit of light on Mr. Trump’s highly successful funding operation.
He is going to have a war chest that will likely dwarf the Democrats’ this fall. The only way the Democrats can prevent this is by nominating their US$60-billion man, Michael Bloomberg.
Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg speaks to supporters outside of the Viva Villa restaurant in San Antonio, Texas, on Jan. 11, 2020.MARK FELIX/AFP/Getty Images
Mr. Bloomberg, who Mr. Trump insultingly refers to as Mini Mike, takes the debate stage for the first time on Wednesday in Nevada. But his riches will hardly be saluted. He will be denounced by fellow Democratic candidates for trying to buy the presidency.
The Democratic candidates have collectively raised a ton of money, outpacing expectations. But they’ve been spending it on their respective campaigns for the nomination. Mr. Trump has raised more than any of them individually and, given that his nomination is secure, can save it all for the fall.
Mr. Bloomberg has spent more than US$400-million of his own fortune on his late-starting campaign. And presto – it’s already made him a leading contender.
By comparison to jurisdictions such as Canada, which have sensible campaign-finance regulations, the election is hopefully giving Americans a schooling as to the stupidity of their deregulated system, fraught as it is with money-take-all folly.
Wealth doesn’t always translate, of course. In the 2016 campaign, Hillary Clinton outspent Mr. Trump by an almost two-to-one margin – US$768-million to US$398-million – and she still lost. But the Democrats still need to consider the dangers of Mr. Trump doubling the spending of their party this time.
His fundraising e-mails have been arriving at the rate of two or three a week. They often try to strike fear in your heart. “We are up against an unhinged left-wing mob,” Mr. Trump wrote last week, “a Democratic Party that has embraced radical socialism.”
That’s another area where Democrats would benefit from a Bloomberg nomination. The New Yorker hardly fits the Che Guevara mould.
On fundraising, fear is one way to get contributions. Rewards are another. The Trump team purchased a couple of Super Bowl advertising spots, and before they aired, the President e-mailed potential donors about exciting news: “I want to give YOU an exclusive sneak preview of one of them.” As if an early look at an ad was a big deal.
His personal touch is often used. That was evident in the note from Don Jr., saying his father had come to him to ask him to reach out. Only the most gullible Trumpies would believe that.
The operation is nothing if not persistent. At the end of the year, I noticed that my status – or “sustaining membership” – in the Trump network had expired. Nonetheless, many e-mails of solicitation have followed. “You’ve never let me down before,” the President wrote in one, “and I know you won’t start now.”
The methods can be questioned, but not the results. The money, due in part to the impeachment inquiry, is pouring in like an avalanche. Within 24 hours of the Sept. 24 announcement of the inquiry, he raised US$5-million. In 2019’s last quarter, Mr. Trump raised US$46-million. His campaign had more than US$100-million in hand to start 2020, and that number is growing dramatically.
Last weekend, a Trump fundraiser attended by his plutocrat friends in Palm Beach charged a whopping US$580,600 per couple. That’s US$290,300 a plate (drinks were hopefully included). In his 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump denounced accepting big money from wealthy donors, saying it would make the officeholder beholden to them. It obviously is not a major hindrance this time.
The 2020 campaign will see the Trump campaign loaded up like Fort Knox. Democrats attacking Mr. Bloomberg for trying to buy the party’s presidential nomination should bear this in mind. His billions might be their best hope – if not for his own candidacy, then for whomever the Democratic nominee might be.
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Lawrence Martin