So, the national Democrat party is flat busted and begging creditors not to force it to make any payments until after the mid-terms.
I am going to resist the temptation to harken back to the days when we said the Dems could screw up a one-car funeral or constantly met in a circular firing squad. Some of that is true, mainly because the party can’t seem to figure out how to have folks with seriously different views and opinions in the tent.
When it comes to money, though, the Dems are suffering from the after-effects of Citizens United and the total, bottomless corruption of what used to be the Republican Party. (Note to Republicans: Would you please just rename the damned thing to something like “The MagaMoneyCult?” No answer? OK, I will do it on my own.)
Money has always made its way into politics. And corruption is nothing new. Read some history. But when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the conservative non-profit Citizens United, deciding that corporations and organizations are living entities and to restrict their political involvement violated the First Amendment, things changed. The Court basically said such groups are no different than human beings, though they lack hearts and souls. Which, come to think of it, does make them much like modern-day Republicans.
Fast forward to 2026 when the MagaMoneyCult (MMC) party has gotten tech CEOs and big corporations in general to whore themselves out and funnel cash into efforts to destroy democracy in exchange for untold wealth. While the MMC may not have a majority of the votes, it does have a majority of the political cash, funneled to it through various PACs, private coffers and even international treasuries. The MMC has put the mob to shame when it comes to money laundering.
So, where are the Dems today? In fiscal and leadership disarray. It’s hard to say the party is poor when it is sitting on $334 million in cash as of this summer, but compare that to the MMC cash account, which holds $657 million. That does not even include a PAC, MAGA, Inc., created by Donald Trump which is sitting on $400 million.
This matters mostly because of media buys. Elections have become bottom line cash cows for all levels of media, but mostly electronic and tech. In addition, parties send money out to states using a variety of calculations. Against that backdrop the 2-1 cash lead the MMC has is significant.
Reenter the Supreme Court. In June it struck down a 50-year-old campaign financing law that restricted how much money could go from large donors, as individual donations, for the benefit of specific candidates. In other words – don’t donate to the candidate. Donate to the party with the understanding it will go the candidate. Pundits say this will give, at least for now, an edge to the MMC given its massive lead in cash-on-hand.
So, what are the Dems to do? Reality is that today, there is not much Dems can do to bring in more cash to the party. The whored-out billionaire class and corporations have made their choice and its to fund the death of democracy.
There is something Dems can do, and in fact are doing. That is to focus less on a national party and more on local races. Donors outside the billionaire class tend to want to feel a connection with dollars they give and the direct impact those dollars have. Giving to a local House candidate, a Senate race in their state, a gubernatorial race, state legislature races gives them that sense.
There is another advantage to focusing on fund-raising at the more grassroots level. It lets every area determine the sorts of candidates it wants. Under today’s system the national party tries to please all parties, create “unity” where unity is humanly impossible to achieve. Direct giving to candidates allows for more local determination.
National parties are not going away, even though every day they prove the fears of some of our Founding Fathers about the negative impacts of parties on democracy were valid. Given that, it’s right to be concerned about the current cash gap between Dems and MMC.
That gap is not cause for handwringing and desperation. It is a cause for a shift in tactics and to some degree that shift is underway. I, for one, have not sent a donation to the national Democratic Party or the umbrella groups like the House and Senate fundraising groups. My donations, small though they are, are targeted to candidates and causes I can sense or see. Period.
Jordan is a pseudonym for a writer who has spent a career writing about politics and being involved in business and politics at several levels. To protect those who have been associated with him he uses the pseudonym.