How Trump's Billion-Dollar Campaign Lost Its Advantage

[RandySF]

Money was supposed to have been one of the great advantages of incumbency for President Trump, much as it was for President Barack Obama in 2012 and George W. Bush in 2004. After getting outspent in 2016, Mr. Trump filed for re-election on the day of his inauguration — earlier than any other modern president — betting that the head start would deliver him a decisive financial advantage this year.

It seemed to have worked. His rival, Joseph R. Biden Jr., was relatively broke when he emerged as the presumptive Democratic nominee this spring, and Mr. Trump and the Republican National Committee had a nearly $200 million cash advantage.

Five months later, Mr. Trump’s financial supremacy has evaporated. Of the $1.1 billon his campaign and the party raised from the beginning of 2019 through July, more than $800 million has already been spent. Now some people inside the campaign are forecasting what was once unthinkable: a cash crunch with less than 60 days until the election, according to Republican officials briefed on the matter.



https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/07/us/politics/trump-election-campaign-fundraising.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

[qwlauren35]

1. This is SOOOOO Funny.

I am laughing my head off.

Now, we just have to use our money wisely.

Cookies and water for volunteers is money well spent. (Oh wait, they are doing it from home... OK, a free button.)

[Aristus]

2. There's no doubt in my mind that a lot of that cash is being siphoned out of the campaign

and into the personal accounts of many, if not all, of the immediate Trump family.

How much of it Putin will demand is unknown. But Trump's method of paying back in kind is working out spectacularly well for Putin, and horribly for the United States.

[2naSalit]

4. +1

[tanyev]

5. Yes, and that was the real reason for filing for reelection on Inauguration Day.

[Midnight Writer]

3. Running a campaign like a business. A Trump business.

Trump's business model is reneging on loans, screwing his workers, and swindling his investors.

[kurtcagle]

6. This is not atypical of Trump either

Remember, Trump has repeatedly gone bankrupt throughout his career, and usually gets save at the last minute only by launching some new Ponzi scheme somewhere else. My suspicion is that he actually doesn't own all that much - most of his properties ended up getting sold off to others with Trump just retaining a licensing fee for using his name. He tends to spend profligately, but not effectively.

His 2020 primary campaign is a case in point. Parscale produced a number of cheesy ads early on, while the Democrats were still determining their candidate, primarily glorifying Trump to his base. Had they held their fire, they could have started ramping things up around August. Instead, most of their money went into rallies that got canceled, poor attack ads and, as been suggested here several times, into Trump's pocket. I wondered when they cancelled a significant chunk of their ad buys in July for August if they weren't short of cash, and the evidence is piling up that they are.

I think the other thing that's happening is that they AREN'T getting RNC or PAC ads in the volume they expected, which means that they are likely also having to spend more on airtime than they budgeted. Biden's getting a lot of free advertisement right now, Lincoln Project, Bloomberg, and so forth, which means that he can concentrate more on positive ads for the Biden/Harris ticket. With Adelsen out of the equation, Murdoch giving the election a bye, and so forth, it means that Trump's reliant upon Putin, but Putin's facing the collapse of the Russian oil economy right now, and is likely proving a lot stingier about support than in the past.

[Tanuki]

7. Trump has turned his daily TV broadcasts into campaign propaganda

and Biden isn't given equal free air time. This must be worth millions, and it isn't fair.

[Cha]

11. Yes, trump was campaigning in France too when he refused to

go to the Cemetery. It was reported he was denigrating Dems on Foreign soil.

A lot of of his Big Bloated free campaign propaganda pressers have not worked out so well for him.

It must frustrate the piss outta him.. "Why don't they like me?. Wah!"

[liberalla]

8. Interesting... and he argued with Adelstein a few months ago. I think I read

Trump was mad because Shel had stopped or slowed his huge contributions to the campaign.

Poor gop they can't use the NRA anymore... What about the oligarchs? what about Putin?




found a link:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/08/trump-antagonizes-sheldon-adelson-phone-call-392688

[Tarc]

9. Just remember; $400k of that was for an ego-stroking ad buy in DC

The Trump campaign spent $400,000 on largely pointless TV ads in DC just so the president and his allies would see them, report says

The Trump campaign placed a series of flattering ads on television channels they knew President Donald Trump would watch, in an attempt to quell anxieties about his election prospects, reported the Daily Beast.

The Beast, citing Federal Communications Commission records, said that Trump officials spent around $400,000 on the ads.

They mostly aired on Fox News, but also appeared on liberal-leaning CNN and MSNBC which the president is known to "hate watch."

A drop in the bucket of 1 billion, sure, but surely there are more examples of frivolous spending.

[C_U_L8R]

10. What the heck did they spend $800M dollars on?

It would not surprise to find some exponentially expanding secret offshore bank accounts.

[Xolodno]

12. He assumed his donors would send more....but they can't.

Adelsen has donated money, just not to Trump's campaign. In the form of PAC's and Senator's, instead. And why should he, the lost casino revenue due to the pandemic has to be tearing him a new one right now, so he doesn't have as much funds as before. Add to that, Trump is an incumbent, should have no problem raising money...and he didn't.

Other big donors are also probably hit hard with the pandemic so they can't contribute as much.

His base, they live on government hand outs. They may send over a buck or two, but that's all he's going to get.

Right Wing business owners are in dire straits.

But despite that, he amassed a huge war chest....and blew it all the way. Bet a lot of his top campaign staff lived high on the hog and Trump branded properties where they were spending all that money.

And Putin, he closed the spigot off to the NRA to funnel money to Trump. His investment more than paid off and I'm sure his advisers are telling him not to waste any more money as a Trump win is unlikely and they squeezed all the juice they got of that orange.

[SpaceNeedle]

13. Chapter 11 or 7 is coming

The last people to send invoices to his campaign will not get a penny.

[Wounded Bear]

14. Like all his other endeavors, he's selling a crappy product...

[lindysalsagal]

15. Did they check frump's pockets?

ivanka's purses?