Joe Biden’s emphasis on old-school fundraising tactics such as in-person events with well-heeled donors is coming at the expense of smaller but more plentiful online donations, suggesting his approach to a crucial part of winning the presidency is wanting.
The former vice president’s 2020 campaign recently sent out a frantic plea to supporters pointing to the fundraising success of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic socialist crusader whose campaign has been fueled virtually entirely by small donors. Sanders, whose support in polls has plateaued in recent months, is credited with spurring an impressive digital fundraising operation that currently boasts roughly $30 million cash-on-hand, whereas Biden had just under $11 million.
Biden’s campaign schedules frequently list his fundraising events, held in locales such as the Hamptons on New York’s Long Island, Sun Valley, Idaho, and La Jolla, California, areas that boast some of the nation’s most expensive real estate.
In a sense, it’s not a surprising approach for a candidate, 76, first elected to the Senate in 1972 at age 29. During Biden’s 36 years in the chamber, mingling with high-dollar donors was a natural way to vacuum up campaign cash.
“When Biden got into politics, the word ‘grassroots’ hadn’t even been invented. He’s not doing anything to excite the grassroots, so that’s why the grassroots fundraising numbers should be concerning,” Democratic strategist Scott Ferson told the Washington Examiner. “His strategy to win the primary is just power through, but the fuel is running low. His braintrust is on the older side, so they’re not very innovative,” when it comes to fundraising strategies.
The lack of small donors is driving concerns in the Biden campaign, already hyper-focused on fundraising due to the assumption that the Democratic primary would run long, in addition to President Trump’s likely billion-dollar reelection war chest, according to those familiar with Biden’s thinking who spoke with the Washington Examiner.
“Look at someone like Buttigieg’s cash on hand [totaled at $22.6 million as of July 1]. It’s higher than Biden’s. That’s really worrying the Biden campaign,” said a former senior campaign official for Biden’s former boss, President Barack Obama. “Right now, Biden doesn’t have the infrastructure to beat Trump. The reality is we’re dealing with a 76-year-old man. This should keep Democrats up at night.”
Biden’s focus on wealthy donors have also opened him up to criticisms from the left, who have pointed to the optics of decrying income inequality at multi-million dollar Manhattan apartments. Candidates like Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have slowly chipped away at Biden’s lead in early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire as they both shun private fundraisers.
Beyond generating a lack of enthusiasm from his own base, Biden’s sluggish campaign schedule has also angered key Democratic constituencies. Even this week, news broke that Biden would not be attending the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in San Francisco. Meanwhile, 13 other 2020 Democrats have agreed to speak delegates at the event.
In June, Biden was one of the only candidates who decided to skip out on the California Democratic State Convention. That led activists to pass out “Where’s Joe?” flyers and even an apology by Biden.
A Washington Examiner analysis conducted in June found that Biden was holding half the events of his rivals, despite not having a day job, like Sens. Sanders and Warren, along with several other current elected officials in the 2020 Democratic field.
Behind closed doors at his fundraisers, Biden has ignored local reporters in favor of his small group of campaign pool reporters. Yet even in these smaller, more intimate meetings, Biden has uttered some of his most memorable gaffes of the campaign.
At a Seattle fundraiser in June, Biden earned jeers from the audience after claiming that homophobia was routinely tolerated as late as 2014.
That same month, at a separate fundraiser in Manhattan, Biden reminisced on his time working with segregationist Democrats in the Senate. Those remarks have continued to haunt his campaign and were responsible for his brief dip in polls after Harris confronted him during the first series of Democratic primary debates.
Campaign cash raised by newer, more innovative online techniques is relatively sparse. A Politico analysis of the former vice president’s digital fundraising numbers found that over 60% of the $13.2 million Biden raised online came during the first week of his campaign, back in April. While Biden has raised over $20 million in total, much of that money stems from ritzy dinners and cocktail receptions overwhelmingly attended by the rich.
Biden’s median daily online fundraising at the conclusion of June was just short of $67,000, below 2020 rivals like South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg at $186,000, Sanders at $127,000, and Warren at $75,000.
