President Trump begins his reelection bid with a massive financial and organizational advantage over his eventual Democratic challenger, who will start from scratch after a bruising and likely extended primary campaign.
The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have accumulated nearly $200 million and together fielded a sprawling ground game in key 2020 states, with money still rolling in to support an expanding infrastructure. The Democratic nominee, whoever he or she turns out to be, is embroiled in a crowded, bitter primary that could last until late spring — or beyond. That could significantly delay the campaign to oust Trump, buoying Republicans and worrying Democratic insiders.
“You can’t beat President Trump with nickels and dimes,” former RNC chairman and ex-White House chief of staff Reince Priebus told the Washington Examiner on Friday. “Winning a national election takes hundreds of millions of dollars in consumer data, individual voter targeting, and paid programs in battleground states that go on every day out of the daily political limelight.”
Priebus experienced the pitfalls of putting a primary-battered challenger up against an organized, well-funded incumbent in 2012 when Mitt Romney, now a Utah senator, came up short against Barack Obama. Democrats remember how reassuring that financial and operational head start was in a reelection campaign that was far from a sure thing.
“It’s a big deal,” said T.J. Rooney, former chairman of the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania, a critical battleground. “We saw how Obama was able to use money in his reelection and stockpile it in a similar way. Anytime your opponent is well-funded, regardless of their popularity, money oftentimes helps you overcome tremendous unpopularity.”
The Trump campaign raised $46 million in the fourth quarter, banking just over $100 million, while the RNC raised $72 million. Individually, no Democratic contender came close to matching Trump’s fundraising numbers — Bernie Sanders, the top raiser, brought in $34.5 million — and the Democratic National Committee is a paper tiger compared to the RNC.
The president’s early lead is a stark reversal from his first campaign, which was, as Republican donor Dan Eberhart described, “under-funded and under-organized,” despite the grassroots energy that fueled his rise. But the turnabout for 2020 is cold comfort to some Republican Trump supporters. They predict the Democratic nominee will catch up quickly with assistance from an energized liberal base, wealthy donors and outside groups.
“We’ll always be outspent,” said Brian Lanza, a Republican operative and veteran of Trump’s 2016 campaign. “There is too much Democratic money out there.”
Indeed, collectively, the Democratic front-runners raised more money than Trump in the final three months of 2019. Pete Buttigieg hauled in $24.7 million; Joe Biden collected $22.7 million; Elizabeth Warren raised $21.2 million; Andrew Yang brought in $16.5 million; and Amy Klobuchar clocked $11.4 million. Additionally, long-shot contenders Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, both billionaires, are pledging to spend millions in personal money against Trump in the general election, even if they are not the nominee.
With this enthusiasm, the Democratic challenger could quickly build a competitive war chest and deploy a vast ground game, assert some party insiders who are unconcerned about Trump’s head start. Robert Zimmerman, a DNC member from New York active in fundraising for presidential campaigns since 1996, does not anticipate that money will be a problem.
“The level of Democratic energy — and drive — is unparalleled this time around,” he said.
