If he pisses off donors, he’ll never be president.
There’s a balancing act to be played. Hillary had the lion’s share of donors in 2008. Jeb Bush was the guy with all the donor energy in 2016. And Bernie Sanders was the single largest fundraiser in 2020, absent Bloomberg and Steyer who self-funded.
Donors will bend to the popular candidate far more easily than candidates can buy popularity with donor dollars.
He’s going to count on low Dem primary turnout
That doesn’t really help him. He’s got name recognition but low favorables, particularly in his home state. He needs to influence a lot of know-nothing primary voters to get to the general. And then he needs enthusiasm all the way to the finish line. Otherwise, he’s going to go the way of Mitt Romney in 2012 or Kerry in 2004 - scraping his way into the general and then bombing when people just repeat his dogshit takes for six months. Trump takes a third term no problem if there’s not a Big Blue Wave in 2028.
There’s a balancing act to be played. Hillary had the lion’s share of donors in 2008. Jeb Bush was the guy with all the donor energy in 2016. And Bernie Sanders was the single largest fundraiser in 2020, absent Bloomberg and Steyer who self-funded.
Donors will bend to the popular candidate far more easily than candidates can buy popularity with donor dollars.
That doesn’t really help him. He’s got name recognition but low favorables, particularly in his home state. He needs to influence a lot of know-nothing primary voters to get to the general. And then he needs enthusiasm all the way to the finish line. Otherwise, he’s going to go the way of Mitt Romney in 2012 or Kerry in 2004 - scraping his way into the general and then bombing when people just repeat his dogshit takes for six months. Trump takes a third term no problem if there’s not a Big Blue Wave in 2028.