In his first 24 hours of fundraising, former vice president and perhaps future president Joe Biden earned $6.3 million in donations. His campaign claims that of his 96,926 donors, 97% of them contributed fewer than $200.
These extraordinary numbers put all of his competitors to shame, taking the wind out of the sails of those hoping that Biden waited too late to enter the fray. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who came second in earning the highest amount of donations his first 24 hours, earned $6.1 million from 128,000 contributors. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., received $5.9 million from nearly double the amount of donors, but now the socialist has begun pleading with donors to increase their contributions.
While plenty have argued that Biden waited too long, allowing Bernie to take the lead and set the tone of the election, both Biden’s staffing choices and stellar first day of contributions indicate otherwise. Former Sanders national press secretary Symone Sanders abandoned the Bernie Bros to join Biden as a strategist. Two governors, five senators, and seven members of the House of Representatives have already endorsed Biden, making him the first candidate to secure the endorsement of a governor not from his home state.
An additional advantage of allowing Bernie time at the front of the pack? Not only have one-hit-wonders like Beto been able to boom and bust, but nearly all the candidates have followed Sanders’ lead, endorsing “Medicare For all” and the Green New Deal, two programs as unpopular with the public as they are politically unfeasible. Biden cleared his lane without even entering the race, letting Sanders act as the Pied Piper to do that for him.
Biden certainly laid the groundwork with larger donors before his announcement, and it remains to be seen how much momentum he can keep up. But these early numbers are promising and ought to give his doubters pause.
