Sunday, October 18, 2015
Bernie Sanders closes in on Hillary Clinton's money lead
Despite not being backed by a super PAC, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is closing the monetary gap between his rival Hillary Clinton. Compared to Clinton's 400,000 donors, Sanders has received donations from 650,000 people. While Clinton has amassed $28.8 million from July to September, Sanders managed to raise $26.2 million. Furthermore, it is key to note that, while Clinton has spent $25.8 million from her raised $28.8 million on her staff and advertisement ploys, Sanders has spent $11.3 million of his earned $26.2 million and instead opted to focus on organizing.
The article pointed out that Sander's donating base are people who he can rely on for cash, who "may give and give again," according to Sanders' campaign manager and is his primary means of fundraising his campaign, while Clinton has allied herself with a super PAC. I think the effect of Sanders' campaign - a self-proclaimed "people-oriented campaign funded by the people" - has a powerful effect on the American people, especially considering the current distrust of the political establishment.
I think, although it's a risky gambit to rely so much on the people and not on the wealthy (for instance, Sanders has rejected a donation from Martin Shreki, a CEO who raised the price of a drug for HIV/AIDs patients from $13.50 to $750/tablet (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-martin-shkreli_5622637fe4b08589ef47aa62)), it has, so far, definitely paid off and bore fruit. He's set himself apart from other candidates and I am curious to see how far his populist support will take him - going back to the article "Donald Trump vs. the Party: Why He's Still Such a Long Shot," we know that candidates without any support from the political establishment are known to fare unfavorably, leaving Sanders, who has been uncompromisingly against allying himself with the wealthy, in a conundrum.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/15/politics/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-fundraising-fec/index.html
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Bernie Sanders is working for the people and isn't allowing himself to be funded by the wealthy classes, but the big question is how long he can last like this. The wealthy class is who gives money to the candidates and supports their campaigns. They lobby for many of the policies and are deeply influential in politics. Clinton is using their support, while Sanders is not, let's see how long he could last? Best of luck to both candidates.
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