Trump’s $100 million re-election head start

WASHINGTON • As Democrats get organized for the 2020 election, one major obstacle is becoming starkly clear: U.S. President Donald Trump’s US$100 million head start.

Trump, who began raising money for his re-election campaign shortly after winning the presidency, disclosed Monday that his campaign and affiliated committees have raised at least US$106 million — an enormous sum that exceeds what any of his predecessors amassed so early in their presidencies.

More than half of the money the committees raised in the most recent fundraising quarter came from individual supporters, who are giving in amounts of US$200 or less. These supporters also are turning up at Trump-headlined rallies, where their information is being pulled into the Republican National Committee’s expanding voter database.

The party is connecting with one million voters per day and forging an army of volunteers — with a test run of this machine underway in the form of the November midterm election.

The expansive effort comes as Democrats’ hopes for the presidency are just coming into focus. The 2020 race is expected to begin almost immediately after the midterm election, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and former vice president Joe Biden are among the high-profile Democrats who have recently raised millions of dollars and travelled around the country to support midterm candidates — moves typically considered signs of presidential aspirations.

But the Trump machine has been churning for nearly two years.

“If the Trump campaign and RNC keep doing what they’re doing, they’re going to amass a huge fundraising and grassroots network. By the time the conventions come around, they’re going to be rolling down the campaign trail with a well-oiled, fully weaponized battle station,” said GOP strategist Scott Jennings, who advised Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.

A WELL-OILED, FULLY WEAPONIZED BATTLE STATION.

Together with the RNC, Trump’s campaign committee and joint fundraising committees have raised more than US$337 million, and stockpiled at least US$88 million of it in cash.

Democrats acknowledge that Trump has a head start The president is a top political advertiser on Facebook and Google, and the RNC is continuing to improve the data and email lists that Trump’s 2020 campaign will inherit. “It is really impressive, the money and the operation that the Trump folks are putting together,” said Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist.