Bernie Sanders’s league-leading fundraising, including a reported $34 million in the final quarter of 2019, will be a crucial factor in the 2020 Democratic primary. For one thing, it will likely lengthen the nomination fight. Sanders could finish third in Iowa, second in New Hampshire, not win in South Carolina, yet still be alive for Super Tuesday or even beyond, because he has so much money, such a well-known brand, and no need to drop out.
But there’s something else very important that Sanders’s fundraising success shows us. We shouldn’t simplify it to “enthusiasm” or “grassroots support.” I think the best word to describe Bernie’s base, and their willingness to hand over millions in $50 increments, would be belonging.
Bernie has a loyal donor base because they don’t feel they’re simply boosting a presidential campaign. They feel they’re joining a movement, a cause, or an army.
All campaigns try to make donors feel like members of a sort. That’s why Pete Buttigieg descends into crystal wine caves with his donors: to make them feel like part of the Butti-gang. The emails every campaign sends out to its small donors or potential small donors are all about “join us!” and “we need you!”
But Sanders seems to be the best — or maybe the original — when it comes to making small donors feel like they belong. And that’s because he’s the closest to actually meaning it.
First, look at the numbers. A clear majority of Bernie’s money has come from small donations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Only a quarter of his money has come from large donations. Compare that to the alleged populist “bottom-up” campaign of Barack Obama — only about one-third of his money came from small donations.
Obama shattered records in money raised from donors at Boeing, Pfizer, and most of the usual-suspect big businesses. He outraised John McCain even among donors who worked for big oil. Although Obama tried to convince small donors that his campaign was theirs, it was really just an act.
For Bernie, it’s more real. Sanders’s 2016 campaign, by the end, was more about community organizing and empowering the grassroots than it was about beating Hillary. The Sanders supporters I met at the Philadelphia convention spoke about finding connections through the campaign, and were thrilled to be part of “democracy in action.”
“Bernie not only fought for people,” Massachusetts state Sen. Paul Feeney said as he put Sanders’s name in nomination, “He empowered people.”
The most incisive piece about Sanders’s 2020 campaign says his run is largely about “making people feel less alone.”
In short, Bernie’s campaign is something that people can join in a world where belonging is hard to find.
There’s a telling detail about Sanders’s fundraising process. A huge asset he has is the hundreds of thousands of people signed up to automatically donate money every month. On a material level, this brings a nice reliable flow of cash each month. On a deeper level, it makes these people members. They’re paying monthly dues. This isn’t a transaction — a big donation that buys admission to a wine-cave dinner. It’s a relationship. And that’s something a lot of people are desperately seeking.
