Could Trump’s Wealth Cost Him Iowa?

Donald Trump at a campaign event

How could Trump’s money hurt him? If his financial independence keeps him from creating the campaign he needs to win in places like Iowa:

The imperative to raise money online forces campaigns to build infrastructure that has a strategic value beyond the immediate cash-on-hand. The people and technology behind a presidential-level fundraising program help win elections in other ways. A good email team, for example, keeps supporters engaged and involved, primed to volunteer, vote or caucus. It also tells them when and how to do it.

Online engagement also yields data in the form of responses to messages and fundraising appeals. This information helps the campaign in ways ranging from identifying potential grassroots leaders to understanding the themes that resonate with the base. Moreover, someone who’s donated is invested, quite literally, in the campaign’s success.

As a result, donors are more apt to actually vote. All of these factors are amplified in caucus states where determination and organization win….

I lay out this idea in the latest Campaigns & Elections Technology Bytes column, and I’d suggest that his media prominence has a similar effect. The fun part? We get to find out next week in Iowa if superior organization beats (I almost wrote “trumps”) public attention.

Also in this month’s edition: expanding on the idea that Bernie’s small donors insulate his campaign against Hillary Clinton’s recent attacks, because they reply with money when she fires a broadside. Should we rewrite the rules of going negative in political campaigns, at least when you’re facing a candidate with a passionate online following?

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Top photo: Donald Trump speaking with the media at a hangar at Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona, by Gage Skidmore.

Written by
Colin Delany
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