Last week, we covered the GoFundMe account set up to help Christine Blasey Ford pay for security and other costs related to her telling her sexual assault story about Brett Kavanaugh. This week, we learn that grassroots donations to both parties jumped after she and the potential Supreme Court justice testified before a Senate committee. From a Bloomberg story about Republican hopes that Kavanaugh will fire up their voters in the midterms:
Both sides have used the issue for fundraising. The National Republican Congressional Committee, which sent out a text soliciting donations after Kavanaugh testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, said total contributions were up 175 percent compared to one week before and the average amount of each donation nearly doubled, Politico reported.
ActBlue, the digital fundraising system used by many Democratic candidates and groups, said that on Friday, the day after Ford and Kavanaugh testified, it took in more than $10 million — its biggest day ever for small-dollar donations. The Democratic National Committee, which has struggled to raise money, said that it had one of its best 72-hour periods of small-dollar fundraising over the weekend, taking in $1.5 million online.
Which side is eager to tout the amounts? Which had rather talk percentages? This little snapshot suggests that Democrats are the ones feeling motivated to donate, just as they have been all year — if Republicans were raking in real bucks, they’d be shouting it from the rooftops. Instead, as the Washington Examiner reported today (via PoliticalWire), “Five weeks before critical midterm elections, House Republicans are outgunned and outmanned as a constellation of well-resourced Democratic groups dedicated to winning the majority overwhelm GOP defenses.” I can’t imagine why.
[…] no shortage of stories about a moment coming and candidates or groups raising big sums of money. These are the exceptions, not the rule, but that doesn’t stop most campaigners […]