The Witness Chronicles, March 29, 2024

The Republican money dilemma

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

The Other Huge Republican Problem

This is what happens when Trump sucks all the money out of the room

Trump’s campaign and legal problems are financially starving every other Republican candidate across the country. After draining his Super Pacs of over $50 million for his legal bills, and reportedly racking up millions more each month, the Party is largely broke. Joe Biden is outraising him by an estimated 100%.

But there is a big difference between how Democrats spend their money and how the Republican National Committee (RNC) under new Trump leadership will spend what they have. At least 10% of GOP funds raised will go to more legal expenses and that number could rise.

He will siphon off whatever he can for himself, given his desperate need for cash. Hawking Bibles and sneakers is going to make a dent, but he can’t resist a scam especially if it has his name on it.

Though Trump talks about spending his own money on his campaigns, he has never done so. And these days it is questionable just how much cash he personally can get his hands on. He needs to post a $175 million bond, in the next week, to continue his appeal of his business corruption case.

If he doesn’t or he loses his appeal, he will then owe the full nearly one half billion dollar fine. All of this, along with poor fundraising, puts the hundreds of other Republican candidates running for federal, state, and local offices in financial jeopardy.

Normally, the RNC would distribute some of its war chest to those down ticket campaigns, based on need. Apparently that is not the case with the Trump controlled RNC, either because he has ordered all funds to be diverted to him or they simply don’t have the money.

Either way, this creates a huge potential problem for the entire party and its future. Money is the lifeblood of US politics and it appears that donors are sitting on the big money waiting to see how Trump weathers his legal problems, especially the upcoming criminal trials.

To put this in perspective, federal elected officials spend most of their time in office raising money so they can stay in office. This is true for both parties and represents a flaw in our electoral system, a flaw that will remain because donations clearly buy influence, and those spending it are willing to pay, as long as they get what they want.

Meanwhile the ultra-right wing Heritage Foundation and the Trump inner circle are circulating a far reaching plan to basically tear our entire government apart and replace it with Trump loyalists and his own version of the Constitution, which essentially looks like a kingship.

But without widespread political power, including control of both houses of the Congress, that is unlikely to happen. Trump can’t wave a magic wand and reinvent everything in his image without a lot of help. And he can’t get that help without spending money on others in his party.

A symptom of this we’re learning more about this week is the absence of Party campaign organization, on the ground level, in many key states including Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. These are the teams tasked with getting out the vote, putting up signs, and recruiting minority and independent voters to the cause.

They are not there and apparently neither is the money. As usual with Trump, everything is about him and this is starting to reach down into local and state races. It is unlikely that he cares much about those smaller elections. His singular political goal is getting elected so he can derail the federal criminal cases against him.

The ripple effect of this is possible chaos within the Party apparatus. We’re seeing signs already with a significant number of the Party’s most competent members of Congress leaving or not running for reelection, out of outrage and disgust.

There is no sign that any of this is a concern for the ex-President. He does not like competence because it attracts attention away from him while showing possible better choices. This is unacceptable to a world class narcissist who sincerely believes that only he is competent.

This makes it pretty hard to comprehend where the Party will find future leadership at all levels. Their leadership in the Republican National Committee has been largely incompetent in recent years, and is constantly criticized by former RNC chairs and anti-Trump Republicans. Now, with the Committee being co-led by Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, they have a leader with no experience and no qualifications other than loyalty to her father-in-law.

Nepotism is always a sign of poor management, but the only people Trump trusts at this stage are close family members. And it is likely that more of them may be questioning his ability.

Yesterday Joe Biden held a fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in NYC with Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and a host of celebrities. We don’t have the numbers yet but it was predicted to possibly be the biggest fundraiser in American political history.

And those funds won’t be funding any massive legal bills, multi-million dollar fines, or the massive ego of one man, a man who simply does not care about his party, his fellow Republican politicians, leadership, or any actual governing.

Anyone running for office as a Republican better have deep pockets, undying loyalty, and willingness to kowtow to the great leader. Otherwise, he will viciously turn on them, starve them of support, and unleash his attack dogs on them and their families.

A great recruiting strategy, right?

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