Biden visits California to increase $42M haul
President Joe Biden is headed to California on Tuesday for a series of campaign fundraisers in some of the wealthiest parts of the country as he seeks to add to the $42 million he raised for his reelection campaign in January.
Biden’s ability to raise cash — his campaign reported having $130 million in the bank over the weekend — has been a bright spot amid bleak polling numbers that show his popularity has sunk to near the lowest point in his presidency.
Campaign advisers say the numbers will rebound once the president’s team has had the opportunity to contrast his record with that of former President Donald Trump, who is widely expected to be the Republican nominee. The campaign’s success in raising money will determine how effectively the president can deliver that message to voters.
In a statement released over the weekend, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign said that more than 422,000 donors gave money in January, and that nearly 97% of the donations since Biden announced his candidacy had been under $200 each.
“We are particularly proud that January shattered our grassroots fundraising record for a third straight month,” said T.J. Ducklo, the spokesperson. “This haul will go directly to reaching the voters who will decide this election.”
But the president’s three-day trip to California is not designed to seek support from the small-dollar donors.
Instead, Biden will headline several “campaign receptions” in Santa Monica, San Francisco and Mountain View — venues that will attract the richest members of the Democratic establishments in Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
Those events for the campaign’s wealthy supporters in California had been put on hold during the lengthy strikes by the writers and actors unions in Hollywood. But now, Biden is returning to reach into their pockets.
Biden’s fundraising haul comes after Trump logged multiple primary victories, making it more clear to voters that he was on a path to become the Republican presidential nominee.
“The profound fear of a Trump return to power has been supercharged by his ever-steepening descent into authoritarianism, racism and general lunacy,” said Matt Bennett, executive vice president for public affairs at Third Way, a centrist Democratic advocacy group.
Still, while Democrats say it is essential for the president to raise enough money to combat Trump, the fundraising is also important if Biden wants to ease the concerns about him from within his own party.
Bennett said that the pace of fundraising is essential given the widespread concern among voters older than Biden.
“I don’t think that alarm about the polls or the president’s age is simply the usual Democratic bed-wetting,” Bennett said. “There is no question that Biden must run as if he’s behind, because he is.”
“He must address the age questions head-on, because they are real,” he added. “However, the strong fundraising is one of many signals that the situation, while serious, isn’t dire. The economy is humming, and voters have begun to feel it.”