Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has a credibility problem that has dogged her for years, so I am always a little bit surprised when she does something that reinforces the reasons for her inability to build public trust beyond the narrow fringe left that constitutes her base.
Last month, Mary wrote about how Warren’s Campaign Found Ways to Bring In Big Donors Despite Her Grassroots Pledge. In essence, the “campaign” meets with big donors, along with a cardboard cutout of Warren, and Warren somehow manages to convince herself and her supporters that this deceptive setup aligns with her promise to keep her campaign financed only by small dollar, grassroots donors.
Can you even begin to imagine the firestorm that would be unleashed on President Trump, or any Republican for that matter, if they tried something this shady? But I digress.
Warren held another big dollar fundraiser on Saturday, this time in Hollywood. Warren’s cardboard cutout was there, but not Warren herself, so it wasn’t a big dollar fundraiser for Warren . . . just for her campaign. Or something.
ABC News reported prior to the event:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is set to host her first campaign fundraiser in the Los Angeles area Saturday. And while Warren won’t be there — she’ll be stumping in New Hampshire — the event is shaping up to have as many stars as a Hollywood movie premiere.The gathering promises to be replete with celebrity faces — and a life-size cardboard cutout of Warren.. . . . Among those expected to be in attendance are actor-comedians Jon and Ike Barinholtz, TV writer-producer Marti Noxon, writer and Crooked Media cohost Kara Brown, actress Elizabeth Banks, actor Ben Feldman, comedian Travon Free, author Jenny Han, director Alexandra Kondracke, film producer Franklin Leonard, playwright Janine Nabers, writer Christopher Noxon, actress Busy Philipps, actress Angela Robinson and actor-comedian Adam Scott.
To their credit, ABC News does note the questionable nature of these not-Warren Warren campaign fundraisers.
Warren has sworn off big-dollar fundraisers in both the primary and the general election, emphasizing no special access for wealthy donors — and she leans heavily on a grassroots rallying cry. She’s hold [sic] Saturday’s event in absentia, leaving her plausible deniability for any pay-for-play face time with donors.
Warren isn’t just working around her own pledge in Hollywood. She is also doing so by speaking at big dollar DNC events.
Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has made her opposition to pricey fundraisers a staple of her presidential campaign. “I don’t do big-dollar fundraisers at all,” she told “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday.But Warren has carved out a workaround to her pledge by speaking at high-dollar fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), whose financial support in the general election will be crucial to Warren if she is the party’s nominee.Warren on Thursday spoke at the DNC’s IWillVote Gala fundraiser in Boston. The DNC didn’t publicize ticket prices for the event, and didn’t return an email inquiring about the costs, but an archived invitation shows the DNC charged up to $50,000 per ticket package when it held the same event in Atlanta earlier in 2019.. . . . Warren, whose campaign did not return an email seeking comment, also spoke at another high-dollar fundraiser, the DNC’s Women’s Leadership Forum Conference, which took place over two days in mid-October.Contribution levels for the event ranged from $100 for a “young professional,” to $50,000 for a “WLF Ambassador,” the perks of which included ten VIP tickets to the Women Will Vote Gala, according to an archived version of the invitation page.
There is a difference between raising money for her own campaign and raising it for the party, but she is banking on winning the Democrat primary and would then need the DNC’s financial support.
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