As Democrats in congress continue to walk away from Biden, the campaign had Vice President Kamala Harris field a group call with major donors in an effort to stop the flood.
Biden continues to insist that he is staying in the race, but if there’s one thing that could trip him up, it’s a lack of dollars flowing into his campaign.
The New York Times reported:
Harris Struggles to Reassure Major Democratic DonorsVice President Kamala Harris tried to buck up the Democratic Party’s biggest donors on Friday, telling about 300 of them that there was little to worry about in President Biden’s campaign.Ms. Harris spoke to the group at a time of extraordinary turmoil among Democrats, with many hoping that she will replace Mr. Biden as the party’s nominee. But several listeners said they found the meeting overall to be of little value and even, at times, condescending, believing that the message ignored donors’ legitimate concerns about the Biden-led ticket.Ms. Harris, of course, is in a delicate position: She must demonstrate loyalty to her boss but also be prepared to jump immediately to the top of the Democratic ticket if Mr. Biden were to withdraw.“I will start by sharing something with all of you,” Ms. Harris told the donors, according to a listener on the call who described her remarks on the condition of anonymity, “something I believe in my heart of hearts. It is something I feel strongly you should all hear and should take with you when you leave. And tell your friends, too. We are going to win this election.” …
Some listeners said they did find Ms. Harris’s delivery to be strong, even if it offered little reassurance, and did not place the blame on her. And some of the donors who were disappointed with the call had preexisting concerns about Mr. Biden’s candidacy, which is why they had requested the briefing.
After the call, one group that had promoted it in advance apologized to its members for having done so.
“Not surprisingly, there was no news generated on this call, and instead, it was a pitch for donors to continue to invest in groups on the ground who are working to defeat Donald Trump,” read an email from Corridor Partners, which advises donors focused on climate issues. “The vice president spoke very briefly and encouraged us all to keep working hard to win in November.”
The email, which was viewed by The New York Times, added, “The call was not productive, and we wanted to apologize to each of you who joined for sharing that invitation.”
Politico has more details:
Harris tries to calm jittery donorsVice President Kamala Harris tried on Friday to reassure hundreds of nervous Democratic donors, some of whom have withheld money since President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, that she and the president were going to “win this election.”“In just the past seven days, as you have heard, I’ve traveled to Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina, and I am out here in these streets,” Harris said on a phone call with the donors, according to audio of the meeting obtained by POLITICO. “I am seeing that the American people are coming to understand the enormous consequence of this election and the stakes of this election. Many of us have been involved with these elections every four years, and nearly every time we say, this is the one. Well, this here is the one.”In just under five minutes of remarks, Harris didn’t address the growing calls from congressional Democrats that Biden drop from the ticket and instead thanked the participants for their support. As donations to Biden’s campaign have slowed since the debate, the implicit request was clear.“You sacrifice many other priorities that you have and responsibilities you have to give to our country through these cycles and through this election in particular,” the vice president said.
CNN’s John King addressed the fundraising issue for the Biden campaign and Democrats during the network’s coverage of the final night of the RNC, and what he is hearing is pretty bad:
“Fundraisers have not only told the Biden campaign we’re done, we’re not raising any more big money for you, but now they’ve told the Democratic House and Senate campaign committees, we are not raising any more money for you….Donors are essentially saying, get him to leave the race or we’re not giving you any money at all.”
Watch this to the end:
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY