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A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 1 april 2019

2020 Democrats in mad dash for donors to make debate stage

By BILL BARROW, the first two debates in June fairer by not relying only on said he raised more than Delaney was less enthusias-
HUNTER WOODALL and July: The debates will polling. $6.2 million in his first day, tic as he sought support in
and SARA BURNETT take place over two back- He also wanted to force more than surpassing the Epping, New Hampshire.
Associated Press to-back midweek evenings candidates to “engage individual donor require- “I think it’s a weird standard
The fiercest battle for cam- because it’s a money stan-
paign cash is playing out dard and I don’t think the
between the presidential Democratic Party should
candidates who might not qualify candidates based
be on your radar. on money,” he told The As-
Ahead of Sunday’s fund- sociated Press.
raising deadline for the first That’s in partial contrast to
quarter, the underdogs what Delaney said in De-
of the Democratic pri- cember, when he praised
mary were in a mad dash Perez for pursuing “a de-
to coax as little as $2 from bate structure that is fair
grassroots donors. and on-the-level” after the
It’s all part of their bid to chairman first confirmed
clear a new threshold from publicly that grassroots do-
the Democratic National nors might figure into de-
Committee to earn one of bate qualifications.
20 highly coveted spots in Despite any frustration, Del-
presidential debates that aney is among those ben-
begin in June. efiting from another side ef-
“I’ll be blunt,” former fect of the rules, with some
Obama Cabinet member donors spreading their
Julian Castro told prospec- money around to ensure
tive donors in one social the field doesn’t winnow
media ad that was running In this March 24, 2019 file photo, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., speaks at the kickoff of her before the debates. That
as late as Thursday. “The presidential campaign,near the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York. goes for donors big and
Democratic Party’s new Associated Press. small.
debate rules mean I might Major donor Susie Buell is
not make it onto the de- with 10 slots each night. with the grassroots,” those ments. committed to Harris but
bate stage.” Candidates have two people who have provid- California Sen. Kamala Har- held a fundraiser for But-
New York Sen. Kirsten Gil- paths to the stage: They ed Democrats with energy ris raised more than $4 mil- tigieg anyway, telling NBC
librand sent multiple fund- can either achieve 1 per- and votes since President lion in her first day. News that “Mayor Pete
raising emails pleading her cent support in three repu- Donald Trump’s election in But Perez says his point has a voice that must be
case, telling recipients in table national or early nom- 2016. stands, with rules that help heard.”
one that they could chip inating state polls or they “It’s important to empow- candidates by relieving That was the same impe-
in $5 “to become a found- can collect contributions er the grassroots,” Perez them of polling pressure tus that spurred Joe De-
ing member” and “help from at least 65,000 donors, said recently on C-SPAN, while still requiring them to noncour to give Delaney’s
get Kirsten on the debate with a minimum of 200 in at explaining that the DNC show progress among vot- campaign $20 before he
stage.” least 20 states. The amount worked with ActBlue, the ers. left a recent campaign
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee raised doesn’t matter. It’s online fundraising jugger- Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year- event. Looking ahead to
urges donors in a Face- all about how many voters naut for Democrats, to old mayor of South Bend, In- the debates, he said, “I
book ad to “chip in ... at are contributing. come up with the thresh- diana, said the rules forced think everybody should get
any amount to make sure” It’s not immediately clear old. him to tailor his fundraising on there that wants to do
his call to combat climate how many candidates are He characterized the re- efforts to the grassroots. it.” q
change “is on the stage in short of the fundraising quirements as “not a layup He said he already has sur-
June.” threshold and how many for any candidate but also passed the requirements.
John Delaney, a little- might be using the rules not a full-court shot.” “All of us, I think, are going
known former Maryland as a way to expand their It actually might be a la- to be responding to the in-
congressman, is going a fundraising base. yup for a few candidates. centives that the DNC cre-
step further. He promised That won’t be known until Sen. Bernie Sanders’ cam- ates,” Buttigieg said in an
to donate $2 to charity for mid-April, when campaign paign says he has more interview, “and whether
every new donor who do- finance disclosures are next than 760,000 donors, an- it’s intentional or whether
nated on his website as due with the Federal Elec- other eye-popping mark it’s just a happy side effect,
Sunday’s fundraising dead- tions Commission. after hauling in more than it just amplified the kind of
line approached. Perez says he’s not con- $10 million in the first week on-the-ground quality that
At issue are the rules that cerned either way, arguing after his official campaign hopefully will be a spirit that
DNC Chairman Tom Perez that he wanted to make launch. Former Texas Rep. stays in this cycle through-
announced in February for the debate qualifications Beto O’Rourke’s campaign out.”