Joe Biden is swimming in cash, but short on voters’ support.
The president has narrowed Donald Trump’s polling advantage in recent weeks but still trails his Republican rival both nationally and in the Rust Belt’s pivotal battlegrounds, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. Biden’s approval rating, meanwhile, remains at a dismal 39 percent.
But the president’s fundraising data tells a sunnier story. Biden and his party began March with $155 million at their disposal, more than three times the $50 million that Trump and the GOP had cobbled together.
Biden grew this cash advantage Thursday. At a fundraiser in New York City, the president appeared with Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Mindy Kaling, and Queen Latifah — and collected at least $25 million from wealthy, celebrity-obsessed Democratic donors in the process. No one has ever raised more money from a single political event, according to the Biden campaign.
Of course, in modern American politics, parties and presidential candidates aren’t the only major political spenders. Trump-aligned super PACs have around $52 million on hand, according to the latest Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. But Biden-aligned super PACs have $64 million, and Democratic groups (including major unions) have collectively pledged $900 million to the president’s reelection.
For anxious Democrats, all this raises a question: How many votes can a cash advantage buy?
Put differently, does Biden’s fundraising supremacy mean that today’s polls are probably underestimating his eventual support? After all, between now and November, nearly $1 billion worth of pro-Biden content is poised to inundate the airwaves.
The answer to these questions will depend on two considerations: Whether Biden can maintain his current cash advantage, and how much influence TV ads can exert over voters’ perceptions of the race.
It’s impossible to know either of these things with certainty. It appears likely, however,…
Read the full article here
