Trump re-election fundraising is unprecedented

[politicaljunkie41910]

Donald Trump's 2020 fundraising haul is totally and completely unprecedented
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

Updated 11:24 AM ET, Tue October 16, 2018

(CNN)On Monday night, President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign announced that it had raised in excess of $18 million over the past three months, a haul that means the incumbent has already raised $106 million for a race that is more than two years away.

That's a stunning -- and totally unprecedented -- amount of money for a sitting president to have collected less than two years into his first term. ...

...But, Trump's haul IS a big deal -- even amid that reality. Here's proof -- in the form of a comparison between Trump's fundraising at this point to his two predecessors in the job:

Trump (fundraising through 9/30/2018)
Raised: $106 million
Cash on hand: $35 million

Barack Obama (fundraising through 12/31/2010)
Raised: $4 million
Cash on hand: $2.3 million

George W. Bush (fundraising through 12/31/2002)
Raised: $3.2 million
Cash on hand: $3.8 million

A little bit of math shows that in three less months of fundraising, Trump has raked in more than 26.5 times what Obama had raised for his re-election race and 32 times what Bush had raised.

The reason for that massive disparity is simple: Neither Bush nor Obama actively sought to raise money for their re-election campaigns during their first two years in office. Bush collected just $265,000 in individual contributions over those first two years while Obama actually refunded more than $179,000 in individual contributions in his first two years. ...

......The symbolic reason past presidents have avoided raising money in their first two years is because they have wanted to send a signal to the country that the campaign is over, they are the president of all the people and they are focused on doing the job to which they were elected not worry about getting reelected immediately. It's the whole there's-a-time-for-campaigning-and-a-time-for-governing thing.

Trump has never played by the political rules. And his decision to file for re-election on the day he was sworn into office is yet more evidence of just how unorthodox he is. He does what he wants -- and usually what he wants is whatever is most advantageous for him. This is one of those instances; whether you like or hate the fact that Trump has already raised more than $100 million for his 2020 race, you can't argue with the fact that it gives him a massive leg up over his eventual Democratic opponent in the chase for campaign cash. ...

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/16/politics/donald-trump-fundraising/index.html

The most important thing I take from this article is not that Trump has raised over $102 million since he established his re-election campaign, but the fact that he only has $35M cash on hand. Where did the money go???? My guess, is that it went into his pockets. Nobody's watching him. Everyone (including the Congress) is afraid of him. I think he converted it to his personal property. After all, how much does a f'ing MAGA hat cost?

[Arkansas Granny]

1. Trump is being bought and paid for. It's as simple as that.

[tavernier]

2. I won't believe any of it until they count it out in front of my face.

Every word out of him is a lie.

[FSogol]

3. You spelled "grifting" wrong.

[Moostache]

4. He has no intention of actually spending that money on campaigning...

He will use Air Force One to travel and charge us...
He will use the Secret Service for logistics and charge us...
He will use the complicit media ratings-whores and get his $1B+ in "free" ad time...

He is a grifter and a con and nothing about that has changed even slightly in his time in office.
I hope he dies, soon.

[janterry]

8. Can he use it for his lawyers?

n/t

[Moostache]

10. I believe the real question is "Will the GOP let him get away with THAT too?"

There is no doubt it is illegal to collect campaign money and use it on other things for personal gain, but that won't stop the Anus from doing it anyway and trying to bully his way past the rules (as always)...

[zipplewrath]

5. The rallies and such

The reason he started the re-election was because it allows him to collect, and spend, money under the guise of a campaign. This allows him to hold these rallies, and also allows him to hire/maintain a political staff, outside of his White House staff. He can even hire Jared, Ivanka, and Don Jr, which would be difficult on the governments dime.

[pandr32]

6. I agree that he is probably repurposing the funds

The rallies serve both his fragile ego and his pockets.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. It's Not The Cash That's Unprecedented

If other presidents had spent their first two years actually in office focusing more on campaign rallies and fund raising than on the job itself, these numbers would not be out of line at all.

But, the POTUS is not supposed to be a rally hound, except MAYBE from about June forward in the year of the re-election campaign.

This abnormal subsimian has that much cash because it is not really up to doing the actual job of POTUS.

[0rganism]

9. that's $100M NOT going to congressional races

when 2020 arrives, it will be a whole different game. meanwhile, Tiny dilutes fundraising by his congressional allies.

please proceed, President.

[Garrett78]

11. Campaign spending's influence on election outcomes is severely overstated.

And, as others have said, much of that won't be spent on campaigning anyway.

[MFM008]

12. He is finding some way

To funnel his own money into it.
To make "most money ever".
For Headlines.
"Perception" of winning.
Everything about him is a LIE.

[politicaljunkie41910]

13. I don't think for a minute that he would funnel his own money into it.

First of all, he didn't have a whole lot of money of his own to begin with, due to his massive indebtedness. That's why he was getting money from Russia and the Saudis in the first place. Also, if he had the money, he'd be spending it on himself and his properties, and not on his campaign. That's what other people's money is for.