If you saw McConnell today you would have no idea other than he was babbling about Ukraine instead of the issues most Rs care about - illegal immigration, crime and inflation of which he spoke nary a word. Nothing about our senile “president”, zilch about disparate enforcement by the FBI and Justice. My view is that Trump and DeSantis have to jump in with both feet, push for donations from massive numbers of small givers and get moving. But I always go back to the Washington Post headlining the day after Reagan opened his campaign on Labor Day at the Statue of Liberty - “A Day of Bad Omens” - we know how that worked out after Reagan focused on issues people care about like crime, an open border and a senile “president”.
Yes. Should be doable with their text / e-mail lists. Just 10 bucks from 1 million people per candidate does it. Or $1 from 10 million people to each candidate. They have more supporters than this.
Otherwise, candidates are entirely dependent on the donor class and the elites.