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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden may be leading in the polls but he is lagging behind his fellow contenders in fundraising totals.
As the Washington Examiner reports, Biden only raked in $15.3 million in the third quarter of this year. While still a sizeable amount, it may show a shift in support from him to more progressive candidates.
Fellow candidate Bernie Sanders topped the charts with $25.3 million and Elizabeth Warren raised $24.6 million. Even South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg raised more than Biden, at $19.1 million.
According to the report, the shift may also be a result of the differing campaign strategies for Biden, Sanders, and Warren.
As Sanders and Warren are appealing to small donors, Biden is taking a more ostentatious road:
In September alone, Biden spoke at almost two dozen fundraisers held at ritzy locations around the country: palatial homes, upscale restaurants, and event spaces in cities such as Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, and Utah’s Park City, and even communities including Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina. Actors Alyssa Milano and Zach Braff attended an event in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Concerned about the perception, the Biden campaign insisted “grassroots fundraising remains central to the campaign’s growth with 98% of all donations coming from grassroots donors of less than or equal to $200.”
“This quarter, 56% of donors were new to our campaign. Additionally, 70% of all donors to this campaign are now individuals who were not previously known to us when the campaign launched. The campaign has seen an influx of support along with an average donation of $44, reinforcing grassroots support as fuel for the campaign,” the team wrote in a statement announcing their efforts.
The Washington Examiner also reports Biden has a smaller presence online than his fellow candidates, leaving “him with little choice but to rely on high-dollar contributors.”
“Biden was just a vice president. He had this job for eight years that built a public profile, but didn’t build an email list that went with it. So they were basically starting from scratch when he announced for president,” a Democratic campaign fundraising tech service provider told the Washington Examiner.
“He just lined up all these donors that were going to give him the maximum amount, and they had that all lined up well in advance of him announcing. The problem is that so many of those people gave him the max, they can’t give him more money,” a Democratic fundraising expert also told the outlet. “Things are not looking up for Biden.”
Not looking up indeed. Check it out, per Market Watch:
Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has overtaken rival Joe Biden in four out of five recent polls, and that performance puts her at No. 1 in a widely followed average of surveys.
Warren, the Massachusetts senator, scores 26.6% support in a RealClearPolitics average of polls, just ahead of the former vice president’s 26.4%.
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