Joe Biden effectively wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination much faster than expected, beating 2020 rival Bernie Sanders decisively in a string of primaries. But with it comes drawbacks that could make it difficult to remain competitive financially with President Trump’s reelection effort.
The coronavirus outbreak has led to uncertainty over when many states will hold their primary contests. The former vice president’s campaign appears to be stuck in limbo, with a moratorium on all in-person campaign stops and fundraisers. In their place are “virtual” events, which feature video conference calls with Biden addressing donors and fielding questions.
Holding such regular events are without any precedent in a modern campaign. Already, Biden’s campaign has had issues with its tech operation. Earlier this week, he had to postpone a virtual fundraiser scheduled for Thursday but gave no explanation why.
“We are really looking forward to convening with you virtually. As we are adjusting to all of the changes and still in transition, we would like to postpone our virtual event until next week. We will follow up shortly with the new date,” the Biden campaign said in an email to donors on Wednesday.
Those issues follow the cancellation of in-person events in Chicago, Miami, and New York, which could have potentially brought millions of dollars into his campaign coffers.
Biden’s attempts at holding “virtual town halls” earlier this month were regularly interrupted by technical difficulties such as blank screens and garbled audio.
Already, Trump’s war chest has stretched into the eight figures, with no evidence his fundraising is slowing down.
But Biden, 77, who has boasted about how he was nearly “broke,” before his surprising Super Tuesday wins, is behind the eight ball when it comes to building out for a general election, despite raising likely tens of millions of dollars since then.
According to the Federal Election Commissions’ regulations, candidates may not start raising money for their general election campaign until after they become the official nominee. The FEC counts the primary and the general election as two separate elections, meaning a candidate can raise $2,800 from the same donor twice.
Biden can still fundraise from new donors or those who haven’t maxed out until then but is already struggling generating media attention to his campaign.
As Trump appears on television almost daily to provide updates to the country over his administration’s response to the pandemic, Biden has been forced to respond via press release. Some members of the press have access to phone calls with him as well.
During a press call Friday, Biden signaled that his team had yet to figure out how to stream from his campaign headquarters but should have it worked out by Monday.
“Everything from providing access to where I physically live and being able to broadcast from there, as well as our HQ, is underway,” he said. “We’ve hired a professional team.”
