Obama too busy giving paid speeches to help bankrupt DNC

The Democratic National Committee is reeling, facing a turnaround that’s proving a much bigger lift than anyone expected as it struggles to raise enough money to cover its basic promises. Many donors are refusing to write checks. And on-the-ground operatives worry they won’t have the resources to build the infrastructure they need to compete effectively in next year’s midterms and in the run-up to 2020.

Much of the immediate anxiety centers on the State Party Innovation Fund, a planned $10.5 million competitive grant program that DNC leadership has made available to interested state parties over the next year. The money is meant to pay for organizing, ground operations and other mechanics seen as essential to countering Republican National Committee investments that helped elect Donald Trump and a slew of other other Republican candidates in 2016, leapfrogging Democrats in the process. The planned funding is on top of the $10,000 each state party receives from the DNC every month. But entering October, the DNC had just $7 million in its main account, which also has to cover its central responsibilities and salaries.

I know math was invented by dead racist white men, but this is still a real problem

Tonight some Bay Area lefties are poorer and Dem campaign consultants are richer. Despite all the polls predicting that Jon Ossoff was ahead, he lost by 5 percentage points. Meanwhile the media is reduced to reassuring the lefties who burned through $23 million to lose yet another special election that the narrower margin of defeat, once again, shows how weak Trump’s support is. But at least there’s good news. Once again the Dems lost a special election by a narrower margin than usual. The only sane question arising out of this entire mess is why? Not why do this. Dem campaign consultants need cash. And Tom Perez needed to show that he has a 50 state strategy. Even if it’s a strategy of losing in every state. But why Jon Ossoff​, a lefty who doesn’t live in the district and whose only notable job involved Al Jazeera, who had no clear policy positions on anything except Clearaisil? Ossoff’s only pitch was “Make Trump Furious.” And he failed even at that. But the owners of that $23 million might just be furious at the little weasel and the DNC.

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Depressed donor enthusiasm

Party officials involved in fundraising say donors repeatedly turn them away with a “try again next year,” especially since it became clear there won’t be an official party autopsy from 2016. Democrat Jon Ossoff’s loss in his much-hyped special congressional election in Atlanta’s suburbs in June has also depressed donor enthusiasm.

But after losing 45 to 52 in Kansas for well under a million, they spent $6 million to lose 50 to 44 in Montana and $31 million to lose 47 to 53 in Georgia. An extra $5 million or $31 million had just bought them another 1 percent in Montana or Georgia. Dems have consistently managed to lose these special elections by around 7 percent. All that varied was how many millions they spent to lose by 7 percent.

Obama isn’t helping either

For the past eight years, much of the party’s donor strategy has been built around large events featuring Obama. But Obama so far has committed to just one DNC event since leaving office — a September event in Washington that brought in $2.5 million, a total that was less than officials had hoped for, according to people involved.

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