Trump campaign fails to woo the big donors

WASHINGTON: Republican Donald Trump could go down as the least well-funded presidential candidate in recent campaigns, entering the final month of the election still without the cash to match the staff and advertising that has helped power the campaign of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

With less than three weeks until the election, it is too late for Trump to amass the cash he would need to unleash a spending assault that might turn his campaign around. In September, Trump raised $163 million (R2.3 billion) – a far cry from Clinton’s $449m.

Trump, a New York property developer who has boasted about his wealth, pledged to use millions of his personal assets to fund his campaign. In addition to the $163m raised, he put in $47.5m during the primary and then added another $8.6m.

Trump’s fund-raising deficit has resulted from a series of campaign crises that made wealthy donors reluctant to contribute to his campaign and reflects that he does not enjoy working the fund-raising circuit or calling large-dollar donors to ask them to write checks.

That’s a big disadvantage for Trump. And it shows in how he has been outspent trying to win the November 8 election, particularly on staff and television commercials.

Trump has spent $5m on staff and Clinton $38m.

On advertising, he has spent $48.7m, Clinton $204m. – Reuters