Republican financiers are reassessing their 2020 fundraising goals, concerned unprecedented personal spending by Michael Bloomberg will erase President Trump’s money edge and turn out voters who swamp GOP candidates down the ticket.
Initial presumptions in Republican circles were that the Trump campaign would need $1 billion and its designated outside group, America First committees, about $300 million to position the president for reelection. But, after Bloomberg dropped nearly $500 million in 10 weeks on his presidential campaign and vowed to spend unlimited cash against Trump regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination, Republican fundraisers and bundlers are conferring privately about upping the budget for the campaign, and America First, by approximately $1 billion.
“It’s time for Republican bundlers to break the glass and pull out all the stops,” said Dan Eberhart, a wealthy energy executive who raises money for GOP candidates and has been involved in the discussions.
Trump is off to a fast start. In January, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee raised a combined $60.5 million in January, bringing its total haul for the 2020 election cycle to $525.5 million, with $200.4 million in cash on hand. Meanwhile, the America First committees, a super PAC and issue advocacy group, boasted a $106 million war chest, including money raised through the end of January and donor pledges.
The combined figures ostensibly provided Trump with a critical edge over his eventual Democratic challenger. The Democratic contenders are still mired in a contentious primary campaign, and the Democratic National Committee is underfunded and stretched thin. Enter Bloomberg. The 78-year-old billionaire media mogul is blanketing the country with television ads in English and Spanish while assembling a vast campaign with field and data programs so robust that they amount to a shadow political party.
[Also read: How Bloomberg is spinning his rocky debate performance]
Republicans are unimpressed with Bloomberg the candidate, especially after his performance in Wednesday’s Democratic debate, but some party strategists concede admiration for the former New York City mayor’s campaign, saying his strategy is sound and his resources are being deployed smartly. That’s why, with Bloomberg vowing to keep a zombie operation running even if his presidential bid falters, the GOP’s big-money backers are talking about upping their investment in 2020.
“Bloomberg’s money is motivating donors to give more,” a well-connected Republican operative said. “People are stepping up.”
Worries about Bloomberg’s wallet extend to Republicans focused on congressional contests. The Democrat was one of the single biggest donors to the liberal cause in the 2018 elections, putting the GOP at an insurmountable disadvantage in several House and Senate races. Republicans worry the same could happen again this November, either through direct investments by Bloomberg or via a rising tide fueled by a Bloomberg organization that is active in districts and states that Democrats usually bypass.
“It’s hard to win elections getting dramatically outspent,” a Republican insider said. “Absolutely, Bloomberg’s money is a factor.”
Some senior Republican operatives are less concerned about Bloomberg, although they are being vigilant. Bloomberg might have forced Republican groups to raise more money sooner than originally planned. But, with Republicans already expecting Democrats and the constellation of Democratic groups to accumulate cash at a record pace as they did in the midterm elections, Bloomberg’s impact is something they were at least somewhat prepared for.
These Republicans also have confidence in Trump to counter Bloomberg’s money. The president is capable of raising the money he needs to win reelection, they said, and his ability to dominate a campaign is unparalleled — and practically priceless.
“We aren’t freaking out,” a Trumpworld insider said. “As I say to anyone who asks me how Trump deals with the storm of spending and negative media/attacks: ‘He is the storm. They have to deal with him.’”
