GOP Smashes Another Fundraising Record in July

We are told that Donald Trump is an unpopular president whom almost no expert is predicting to win in 2020. That should translate into a discouraged party and paltry fundraising numbers.

Instead, the Republican National Committee just set another fundraising record in July. And the so-called “enthusiasm gap” with Democrats has closed.

Republicans are out-hustling and out-raising Democrats at every turn.

The Republican money train continues to haul in record cash.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the party received $20.8 million in July, the largest ever for a non-election year July.

So far, the party has brought in $117.9 million for the 2019-2020 cycle.

Big donors, small donors, online or offline, Republicans have hit the motherlode:

Of special note, said the party, the Republican National Committee has $46.6 million in the bank and no debt. And, it claimed, “the RNC has more than doubled the DNC’s fundraising and has no debt. Comparatively, the DNC carries nearly $6 million in debt.”

In its report, the RNC said that it has increased “major donors” from 33% to about 45% while it still has more “small donors” than the Democrats.

It has also seen online fundraising explode. According to one official, “it was 1,100% more than July 2016 and 1,900% more than July 2015. Year-to-date, we’ve raised more than double what we raised online in 2016 during the same time period.”

In 2008, the Obama fundraising juggernaut ran rings around the GOP. In fact, President Obama invented a whole new way to tap into online enthusiasm, using social media platforms available at the time to build an online army of supporters.

Obama’s efforts in 2012 were even more impressive, becoming the first candidate in history to raise a billion dollars. Once again, Republicans didn’t appear to have a clue about how to use the new technologies to their benefit.

Trump changed that. It was Trump who raised more money from small donors online, despite being substantially outraised overall by Hillary Clinton.

Finally, the GOP began to address their deficiencies in online fundraising, creating new infrastructure that is now bearing fruit.

“Last month’s fundraising haul again smashed records, and we continue to directly invest this money into growing our top-notch data-driven infrastructure, recruiting and training thousands of new volunteers, and registering voters across the country,” said McDaniel.

“Our fundraising success is further evidence that the American people like the pro-growth agenda and economic record that the Trump administration and Republicans continue to deliver, and this puts us in a strong position to secure more Republican victories in 2020,” she added.

Donald Trump has raised $124 million this year. Bernie Sanders, his closest Democratic rival, has raised $46 million. Trump is well on his way to raising a record amount for the primaries and there’s no reason to think the Republicans won’t continue to smash records for the general election.

Money isn’t the only thing that wins elections. Candidate selection, organization, GOTV efforts all play a significant role in victory.

But having a lot of money doesn’t hurt.