Biden's transition team, wary of Trump and Covid-19, sets massive fundraising goal

[left-of-center2012]

Joe Biden’s transition team has expanded its fundraising goal far beyond what Hillary Clinton raised in 2016, anticipating that, should they prevail in November, the Trump administration could actively work against their efforts and that the coronavirus pandemic will make a presidential changeover more difficult than ever.

The Biden transition team is aiming to raise at least $7 million by Election Day and build a staff of at least 350 people by Inauguration Day, according to a person familiar with the transition’s planning, while another person said the total fundraising goal is $7 million to $10 million.

Several people involved in raising money for Biden’s transition said the pitch to potential donors leans on fears that President Donald Trump will not ease the handover process if he loses. That possible complication, along with the dueling health and economic crises hitting the country, will require more staffing and resources for a Biden administration-in-waiting.

“They’re quietly organizing people to say, this is going to be a very, very difficult transition,” said a California-based strategist who advises Democratic donors and requested anonymity to detail the fundraising pitch and other sensitive conversations about the Biden transition. “Trump is going to make this extremely difficult, so we need to be prepared.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/12/joe-biden-transition-team-412784

[Claustrum]

1. Of course it is a very very difficult transition

Trump has, for the most part, cleaned out most of the experienced civil servants (that used to stay in government no matter of the party in the WH) and installed his own partisan people into them. So Biden has the difficult task of replacing all of them.

And this is one of the main reason I favored Biden all along. He worked with as VP for Obama for 8 years and has built a lot of relationships and know who the dependable people are. So he will put the right people in charge to put experienced and competent people back into their positions.

[crickets]

3. Agreed. Biden is smart to prepare now for a rocky transition, and it's comforting to know

that he is able to reach back to contacts from the Obama years for experienced and competent staff.

[fierywoman]

2. I wonder if some of the civil servants that left could be invited back?

[Claustrum]

4. For the political appointed positions, yes. The problem comes when we are dealing with lower level

non-appointed positions. Unless they leave on their own, are you going to fire them for being hired by Trump? That's a huge no because it's a big wrongful termination lawsuit incoming.

[fierywoman]

5. Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant (but didn't say) the ones that left on their own.

[Cha]

6. Didn't trump fire people because they

were hired by Pres Obama?

[Claustrum]

7. For political appointees I think

He did use a lot of corporate tricks to demote people or change their roles to a point they get so disappointed and quit on their own.

[Cha]

8. Thanks.