‘Bedwetters’ beware: Biden fundraising bolsters Democrat hopes

Team Biden’s success in raising as much campaign money as former President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and popular challenger Nikki Haley combined in the third quarter has bolstered hopes that the Democrats will avoid a red wave for the second election in a row.

In raising $71 million, and reporting an impressive $91 million in the bank, Biden and his surrogates have shown that he remains in firm control of the party and his destiny, helping to dismiss concerns that his poor approval ratings will doom his reelection prospects.

BIDEN CLOSED Q3 WITH MORE CASH ON HAND THAN ENTIRE GOP FIELD

“For the bedwetters: Biden’s fundraising totals were higher than Trump’s two quarters in a row,” said Jim Messina, former President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign manager and deputy White House chief of staff.

Republicans dispute the importance of the fundraising numbers, claiming that GOP candidates are splitting the available campaign cash from party donors. What’s more, several noted that Biden’s numbers include party fundraising, whereas Trump’s, for example, are from his campaign.

They also cite a growing number of polls showing Trump beating Biden in the election next year.

But Biden advisers and party influencers said that the fundraising and tight polls show that the president is not in as bad a shape politically as many feel.

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One adviser we follow is Simon Rosenberg, who is arguing that the party is on a sort of roll. On X, he said of the Biden fundraising report that the “Most impressive stat in this encouraging report – 34% of donors are new since 2020. Expansion, growth = winning.”

On his Substack site Hopium Chronicles, Rosenberg said, “The Democratic Party is strong and on a very good popular vote run.”

In reviewing recent presidential election data, he said that the party has done better in recent elections than any political party in U.S. history.

“In the last four presidential elections, Democrats have averaged 51% of the vote, our best showing over four elections since FDR’s presidency.” He even raised hopes of winning 55% in 2024.

“In a ‘red wave’ year, 2022, Democrats gained ground from 2020 in seven key battlegrounds,” Rosenberg said in his blog.

“We’ve seen this strong Dem performance continue into 2023 with impressive wins in CO, FL, OH and WI and in special elections across the US. A new 538 analysis: Democrats have been winning big in special elections finds Dems outperforming the partisan lean in districts this year by an average of 10 points in close to 40 special elections across the US – this is a big deal, and similar to what we saw post-Dobbs last year,” he said of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the landmark Roe vs. Wade right to abortion.