Cash-short Sanders targets Calif. prize
As Bernie Sanders looks toward California to make a defiant final stand, he is bumping up against a dilemma that his campaign has not had to confront in some time.
He is running short on cash.
Inno state is money more crucial for a candidate than in California. Its sheer size, in both geography and population, makes running there a ridiculously expensive endeavor. Its media markets are some of the most costly in the world, and candidates who try to sidestep big ad buys typically fail to convey their message to key segments of the electorate.
So now is a poor time for a precipitous drop in cash flow for Sanders. Amid a string of big losses to frontrunner Hillary Clinton in April, Sanders’ fundraising for the month fell to $25.8 million — which would seem a significant amount, except that in both February and March, he had raised nearly $20 million more.
At the same time, he has been burning through his cash far more quickly than Clinton, outspending her in many of the big states he lost. Sanders has not yet reported his spending for April, but he likely spent well more than he raised based on the amount of air time purchased, the size of his campaign’s payroll, and the other expenses the campaign has in a typical month.
Clinton started April with more money in the bank than Sanders, raised substantially more in contributions and spent less. Now, her bank account is looking a lot healthier than his.
The change of fortune is already forcing the Sanders team to run a different kind of race in California, one that focuses on rallying activists and students in a part of the country with a strong tradition of protest, an affinity for quasi-socialist government and a Democratic electorate that skews left.
“He’s a beautiful fit for California,” said Sanders backer Rose-Ann DeMoro, the executive director of National Nurses United. The nurses union started putting up 30 billboards around the state about a month ago and is bringing its “Bernie Bus” down from Oregon on Thursday, with plans for it to crisscross California until the primary.
“We’re in farmers markets, we’re in public places, we’re going to be at all the rallies,” DeMoro said. She said it was typical of the mainstream media to look at a $25.8 million month for the Vermont insurgent as a setback.
California remains a crucial battleground for both candidates even though it is almost certainly not going to affect who wins the nomination. Clinton is so far ahead of Sanders in delegates she barely pays him any attention on the stump. But for her to lose in California on June 7 would be a major blow to party and campaign morale heading into the Democratic National Convention in July.
Sanders is eager to mop up as many delegates as he can inthe state to bolster his influence at the Philadelphia convention, where he plans to push the national party platform in a socialist direction.
Most of the state’s political establishment is linedup behind Clinton, and her team in California includes seasoned operatives. It is unclear, though, how the campaign will use Sanders’ fundraising drought of late to its advantage. Campaign officials were cagey about their spending plans in California.
If Sanders does not come up with the cash to run an aggressive advertising push, Clinton may opt to ease up herself. Her campaign has been conservative with its resources, even allowing itself to be outgunned on the air in key primary states as it redirects its attention to the general election. As Sanders lays off dozens of staffers in states that have already voted, Clinton has begun staffing up in preparation for the fall.
Sanders supporters hope that some anticipated victories in the states leading up to California will reinvigorate his fundraising operation. The prospects are good for Sanders in West Virginia on Tuesday and Oregon a week after that. This week, he beat Clinton in Indiana.
But unlike his opponent, whatever Sanders has in the bank once June rolls around, he is almost certain to spend in California.
“This is the end of the line,” said Democratic consultant Doug Herman. “There’s nothing to save it for after this.”