RNC raising record levels of cash – what’s going on here?

Lately I’ve been seeing lots of articles like this one.

This article (and others) state that a lot of this money is coming from small-dollar donors – those folks who typically give less than $200. So this isn’t all a small number of mega-donors. Far from it.

Also, the President’s kids are apparently huge draws.

According to that article, there’s 4 October events that Don Jr. has or will be attending and they are expected to raise plenty more cash. Of course some personal pockets are being lined there as well …

Pretty much everyone I know, liberal and conservative alike, hates what’s going on with the government right now. So what’s up with this?

Apparently there are a lot of people you do not know who do like what’s going on with the government right now. At least that may be the case with funds raised in association with the Trump kids.

Other possibility is this is a sign of fracturing in the GOP, with the never-Trump contingent getting active and raising funds for the RNC. But the old guard Never-Trumpers represents a rather well connected contingent which did tend to rely more on big dollar donors.

Signs point more to a bit of populist wave.

Like Obama, Trump is someone certain segments of the population can get excited about, someone who rouses strong feelings.

There’s also the fact that campaigning began a lot earlier than usual. Trump officially launched his re-election campaign on January 20 - the day he was inaugurated. (Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama all launched their re-election campaign approximately eighteen months before the election.)

I wonder how many are Russian.

As the current Republican president and Congress are more and more ineffective, more and more abrasive, more and more damaging to the U.S. and the world, their supporters have a choice. A few will be able to see the damage and realize that they had a hand in putting those people into office. Admitting you’ve been wrong is hard, especially admitting it to yourself. The ones who can’t do that must rededicate themselves to the cause. They must become more right, more committed. They must share their views with friends, and on Facebook, and some will send money. “See? See? Look how much money they’ve raised! I’m still in the club. I still believe.” Of course, this makes it that much harder to admit they’re wrong tomorrow, when Republicans break something else.

As the group of supporters shrinks, those that remain become more fanatical.

It could be the case that Republicans have particular patterns of giving and preferences about where and how to direct donations, and the RNC has, for one reason or another, emerged as the dominant outlet this year. (As a point of contrast, I haven’t donated to the DNC, even though I’ve given far more political donations to individual candidates this year than I ever have in my life – mostly via ActBlue, which I understand has no direct Republican equivalent – and I suspect this is by far the most common pattern among Democrats at the moment.)

I have no idea whats happening. Who is raising the money, and which faction of the GOP are they supporting?

Donald is still campaigning for dollars at rallies. Like he’s still running for office!

I think at some future point in time, possibly when the Government, White House or the Republican Party has collapsed, Donny’s found a way to make off with those funds, amid the chaos.

After that, it’s good Luck trying to prove it, find it, or get it back. Because that’s how he rolls and the game he’s best at.

Note this part of your quoted text:

Emphasis mine; what was motivating Republicans in 2008?

I’d suggest that the same horror over the effrontery of uppity blacks and females–given the Democratic front-runners in 2008–that may well have been in the air then, is in the air again.

Why did John Kelly feel perfectly comfortable in lying, in order to smear the reputation of an uppity black female U.S. Representative? Because Those People have to be shown their place, once and for all. And many who think the way Kelly does are putting their money where their convictions are.

Here’s a more detailed article. Some interesting charts too.

So using small words and frothing the base, I guess. I wonder if they’ll come to regret it.

Just a question because I’m curious - what mechanisms are in place to ensure all small donations are coming from different donors? If I turn up to a Trump rally with $10 burning a hole in my pocket and want to put it in a donating tin, can I do that? Or $100?

Both the DSCC and DCCC are outraising their republican counterparts. So it is interesting that the RNC is outraising the DNC. I guess it is all due to Trump.

What is odd is that it isn’t even an election cycle. The GOP is enjoying unfettered power due to control of the executive and both houses of congress for the first time since 2006. Usually that is when a party rests on their laurels and becomes complacent.

So this is all weird and interesting. Maybe being in power is having the opposite effect like **Sherrerd **said, instead of becoming complacent the GOP is energize now that they’ve won so much.

At political fundraising events, you have to fill out the standard campaign finance form with your name, address, occupation, etc., even if you’re donating cash – they don’t just pass around a bucket.

Except for the fact that at least so far, all this ‘winning’ hasn’t actually lead to much in the way of results. How long can this pattern hold?

To be fair, that’s usually what I hope for when I vote.

No idea. Maybe GOP donors are just relieved Obama is out of the white house and Hillary Clinton didn’t win, and they like Trump’s nativism and white nationalism so even if he doesn’t accomplish anything, they still like him for those reasons.

Right after your party wins is generally when you get complacent and the party out of power gets energized. That is happening with the senate and house fundraising groups, but not the national party groups.

They’re going to have to run on Donald Trump’s record for at least the next two elections. Would you feel complacent in such a situation?

I’m gonna speculate that the Republican Party leadership wants the Republican Party to raise as much money as possible while the Republican Party is still an entity. If Bannon goes all third-party on them, at least they can’t lay claim to this money, because its clearly marked “Republican Party Money”, not “Shit for Brains Deplorable Party Money.”

Individual donors are putting money into the RNC because they sense they have a golden opportunity to alter the political landscape for decades.

Contrast the RNC cash flow with that of the DNC, which is struggling to get an influx of money. The Democrats are still trying to figure out what hit them last year, and more importantly, who they really are now going forward. Are they the party of Bernie’s progressive purity? Can they survive with lots of small donations from grassroots activists? Can they shun big money completely? The Republicans have no problem with big money and corporate donors, but how do Democrats compete when it seems like taking big money makes a progressive less ‘authentic’? This is the problem that Bernie has created for the Democrats and the progressives in trying to figure out how to counter-attack the Republicans.

The Republicans are also possibly a house divided, but they also see opportunities in front of them. Opportunities to load the judiciary with conservatives and have conservative federal courts for the next 20-30 years. Opportunities to pass tax reform. Opportunities to end entitlements. Opportunities to destroy unions and worker protection and environmental regulations. They’re so close. Meanwhile, the democrats are fighting over an identity, while the fascists on the right see a chance to rig democracy in their favor indefinitely.