David Hoffman, a partner at the Sidley Austin law firm and former federal prosecutor, notified co-hosts around noon on Wednesday that Jeremy Hallahan, Biden’s Midwest fundraising chief, had relayed the “disappointing news” that the Chicago fundraisers were being canceled, according to an email obtained by POLITICO. Hosts were told to keep plans for the cancellation quiet until an official email was prepared.
“Most of the money was in already,” according to Sheila Nix, an adviser to the Biden campaign and former chief of staff to Jill Biden. Buttigieg’s donors, Nix said, “started contributing right away as soon as they joined our team,” she said.
The campaign is making adjustments to how it moves forward in wake of coronavirus-driven concerns about large group gatherings. The Biden campaign is discussing public health issues during the coronavirus pandemic with a team of experts, Nix said, including Dr. Zeke Emanuel, brother of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“So it’s unlikely we’ll have any in-person fundraisers until that process is completed,” Nix said. “The vice president plans to use the advisory group to give him advice in terms of public policy for the country and also how to operate within his own campaign.”
Biden’s campaign has surged over the last three weeks. It raised $11 million online in the 48 hours after his victory in South Carolina. In the days since Super Tuesday, donors who had aided Pete Buttigieg and other candidates — as well as a number of donors who had previously stayed neutral and avoided the primary altogether — have migrated to the Biden campaign as he emerged as the likely nominee.
So many people were signing on to help out with fundraisers that it would sometimes take the Biden campaign up to four days to vet new hosts as opposed to a few hours, one Biden fundraiser told POLITICO, with campaign staff overwhelmed by the new activity.
The campaign has started spending its new income. It dropped $2 million on Facebook ads last week, an amount of money that accounts for about 30 percent of the Biden campaign’s total amount of Facebook spending since it launched in April 2019. And it spent more than $4 million on advertising in Florida, which will hold its big-ticket primary on Tuesday. The campaign is also beginning a new round of staffing up, including bringing on high-profile hire, Jen O’Malley Dillon, to manage the campaign.
Coronavirus will upset that big-money fundraising, not only for Biden but also for President Donald Trump, who was slated to attend an event with donors in Nevada and a fundraiser for GOP Sen. Cory Gardner later this week. Though Trump and the Republican National Committee have a much more robust online fundraising operation than Biden, both candidates benefit from regular high-dollar fundraising.
It was “fortuitous” for Biden to have had a big online fundraising moment recently, which he can try to extend as virtually all parts of campaigning go digital, said Taryn Rosenkranz, founder of the Democratic digital firm New Blue Interactive.
“It’s really about keeping up that conversation — you’re taking out the face-to-face conversation, and figuring out a way to have it online,” Rosenkranz said.
In Miami, where Biden was set to travel early next week, the campaign canceled a fundraiser hosted by Alex Heckler, a lawyer and Democratic activist. The cancellation came shortly after Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez declared a state of emergency and cancelled all “mass gatherings” of more than 250 people, which would have included the jam-packed guest list for the Biden event.
“Tiffany and I were delighted and honored as we prepared to host Vice President Biden next Monday. The excitement surrounding his visit resulted in record-breaking participation,” Heckler said. But Biden and the event attendees’ health and safety “are of paramount importance,” Heckler said.
Instead, the campaign is planning to send a call-in number for donors to join a conference line with Biden and ask questions, according to an email sent by a Biden campaign official to attendees. They’re also crediting donations for the event towards a future fundraiser.
“Your support has propelled us this far and I know the VP would love to see all of you then,” the email to Biden donors reads. Similarly, an event in New York – set to be hosted by investor Jay Snyder – was changed to a “virtual/video event and will not be convening in person,” per an email sent to donors.
Littman, who is planning the videoconference fundraiser, said “people like the aspect of going to an event” and it remains to be seen how they will adjust.
“For the Biden campaign we have to raise money. We can’t sit back and not,” Littman said. “We need people to understand this is going to be a new way of doing things for at least the next couple of months, and we need people to be supportive.”
Source: politico.com
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