Voter, Can You Spare a Dime?

US News & World Report ^ | August 23, 2019 | Susan Milligan

[2ndDivisionVet]

Democratic presidential hopefuls are pleading with Americans to cough up even a single buck towards their campaigns. While such a small donation won't even buy crosstown bus fare for a campaign worker, it will go toward a more immediate and critical goal: reaching the threshold of 130,000 unique donors to get on the stage in Houston for Democratic National Committee debates scheduled for Sept. 12 and 13.

"There's always been donor acquisition costs in campaigns," since in political quests as in business, it takes money to make money, says veteran Democratic political consultant Joe Fuld, president of The Campaign Workshop. "But there are campaigns now that are just trying to acquire (donors) – and spending more money to acquire someone than what they are giving," he adds.

With a record 22 Democrats still seeking the nomination, the DNC has limited debate invitations to 20 – 10 on one night and 10 on the second. The party has set a polling and a fundraising standard to cull the list – an effort at objectivity that has resulted in contenders like Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts not making it onstage, while self-help author Marianne Williamson has made the cut.

That requirement has candidates anxiously trying to wrangle cash – no matter how little – from at least 130,000 people.

[2ndDivisionVet]

I'm so old now that I remember when that was the conservative news magazine.

[Bommer]

Please please spend money to get us in office....so we can take the rest!

[Migraine]

I’d think about sending in that dime to one of the dimewits; but there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between ‘em.

[Zhang Fei]

[I’m so old now that I remember when that was the conservative news magazine.]

---

You and me both.

[AzNASCARfan]

That is silly, if they are going to set a rule for X number of donors to make the stage, they should have at least set a minimum of $10 per donation to qualify... Even when I was dead broke I came up with $9.99 to send to Herman Cain.

[Dilbert San Diego]

And why did the Democrats set up these donation criteria, in addition to polling criteria?

ARE THEY using donations as a surrogate indicator of support?

Was it set up that way to eliminate obvious fringe candidates such as Marianne Williamson?

[AzNASCARfan]

Good question... it was billed as the way to prune the field to one debate stage, but that said, I highly doubt thats the only reason, gauging support certainly makes sense.

[\/\/ayne]

Hillary Clinton utilized a gigantic cash storehouse, spending over a billion openly and... how much in the dark? Another billion?

I wonder if DNC is really broke or has a few more billion scattered around waiting to come out.

[Bobalu]

I actually used to read "US News & World Report". What a worthless, leftist rag it morphed into!?

I much preferred the "National Revue" but it has been destroyed by incompetence now as well :-/

I loved Buckley! The first grown-up book I ever read (with pocket dictionary in hand) was "God And Man At Yale"

Buckley's book was a painful but witty revelation that forever caused me to be wary of elite, adult guidance. Our 'betters' were not better at all..they were loathsome anti-God collectivists :-/

I miss Buckley, I remember an interview he did late in life. He said he was just so very tired and actually looked forward to the end... I cried like a baby.

It would have been a great honor to know Buckley (Not in a biblical sense, of course)

[ops33]

There’s more news in the Reader’s Digest than in USN&WR.