President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign fundraising is reportedly not going so well.
A dozen bundlers and donors across the country told Politico that Biden’s campaign fundraising numbers are not as strong as he hoped, causing “anxiety,” “concern,” and “nervousness” among his supporters.
The picture will become clearer next month when the 2024 campaigns file Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports. Biden’s goal is to raise about $2 billion for the entire cycle to defeat the Republican nominee.
“One DNC official dismissed the early anxiety as typical sky-is-falling tactics that bundlers use every election cycle,” Politico reported.
But two people who tried to raise money in California for the president this week reportedly only received single-digit responses:
One joked that the same two or three dozen Democrats were emailing and calling the same list — guaranteeing the low return rate they saw. An email from one fundraiser informed recipients of “limited Reduced Price Tickets” for Biden’s fundraiser Monday evening in tony Atherton, Calif., a development they attributed — dubiously — to “the demand to see the president.” The person who forwarded the email, perhaps ironically, balked at buying a ticket.
Another Biden bundler described the struggle to sell the high-dollar tickets for a Nashville event this coming weekend with first lady JILL BIDEN. While the less expensive tickets were an easier sell, the fundraiser said the city’s top Democratic donors were stretched thin given the competitive mayoral and city council races taking place in August.
Biden is a notoriously poor fundraiser, having struggled with it during his prior presidential bids. But the good news this time around, as he seeks to raise $2 billion this cycle, is that he has time and little immediate need to spend. Not having a primary allows him to sock cash away for next year’s bruising general election.
Polling appears to mirror Biden’s fundraising numbers. In April, less than a quarter of Democrats felt excited about Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign for reelection, a CBS News/YouGov poll found.
In May, Joe Biden’s top Democrat opponent, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was held favorably among 54 percent of respondents. One month later, Kennedy surpassed Biden in favorability by five points (50-45 percent), an Economist/YouGov poll found.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
