The question Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren must be asking is this:
How is it possible that an apologist for Soviet communism and friend of Cuban and Nicaraguan Reds, who spent a large part of his young life barely employed and living like a Bohemian bum, is not only a serious contender for the presidency but also raising more money than us?
Whatever the answer, Bernie Sanders pulled in nearly $35 million in his fourth-quarter fundraising effort for 2019 and leads fellow Democrat contender Joe Biden by about $50 million for the year.
The only candidate who beat Sanders in the money game? The Donald, with nearly $50 million in Q4.
But his fundraising powers aren’t helping Sanders’ get votes. Today, he dropped a little further behind former vice president Joe Biden, the undisputed frontrunner in the Real Clear Politics average of national polls that measure voter support.
The Numbers
If money is the measure of support, however, Biden is the clear loser, and Warren even further behind. Forbes magazine pulled together news reports to provide a complete snapshot of the race for money.
Sanders raised $34.5 million in Q4, a massive 36-percent increase over his $25.3 million for Q3. Some 1.8 million donors sent an average $18.53 to the elderly socialist.
Sanders raised $74.4 in Q1-3, which means he hauled in $108.8 million for the year.
Biden, Forbes reported, raised 24.7 million, an increase of about 30 percent over his Q3 total. Last quarter, he raised $19.1 million.
Added to his Q 1-3 $37.8 million, Biden raised $62.5 million for the year.
Sanders leads Biden in the money race by $46.3 million.
Warren’s number for Q4 isn’t available, but Fox News reported that the campaign expects less than she raised in Q3.
“Warren raised nearly $25 million in the third quarter but appeared to be scrambling to reach $20 million in the fourth, as her campaign made the unusual move of releasing its total to date early in order to drum up more cash,” the network reported.
For Q1-3, Warren collected $60.3 million.
But then comes President Trump.
He raised $46 million in Q4, Forbes reported, and posted $143.7 million for the year. He raised $97.7 million in the first three quarters.
But Trump’s budget is much bigger than that, of course. Adding in associated Trump efforts, Forbes reported, brings his sum to more than $300 million.
Last RCP Totals
All that money Sanders raised, though, isn’t helping him against Biden, who still leads him in the RCP average of national polls by 10 points, 28.6-18.6.
The latest two, Economist/YouGov of December 28-31 and Morning Consult December 23-29, put Biden up by 10 and 11 points.
The last time Sanders pulled even with Trump was an Emerson survey of November 17-20, and as The New American reported yesterday, Biden hasn’t lost a poll since a Quinnipiac survey in October.
Never has any candidate seriously threatened Biden’s lead in the RCP national average, although he has fallen behind in RCP’s measure of polls for the all-important Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primary.
In Iowa, homosexual mayor Pete Buttigieg leads Sanders 22 percent to 20. Biden is third at 18.8.
Biden sits in third in New Hampshire as well. Sanders leads Buttigieg in the Granite State 19-17.7. Biden is polling at 14.3 percent.
Iowa votes on February 3, New Hampshire eight days later.
Trump vs. Democrats
The top Democrat candidates, Biden, Sanders, and Warren, generally lead Trump in RCP’s general election average, but some of those polls are close to if not within the margin of error.
And a USA Today/Suffolk poll in mid-December put Trump ahead of all the Democrat candidates.
The president is also performing well in state polls.
Photo: AP Images
R. Cort Kirkwood is a long-time contributor to The New American and a former newspaper editor.
