"We are the 99 percent!" shouted the man sitting next to me, rising to his feet and almost instantly being tackled by a guard. I was at the Supreme Court for the very first time to observe oral arguments in a case, and after having been assured that this was usually a fairly staid affair, I was surprised to discover at least half a dozen protesters had made their way inside, each rising to yell at the justices in honor of the fifth anniversary of the Citizens United decision.
The Citizens United case has been the target of much anger in the years since the Supreme Court's decision was handed down, paving the way for super PACs and the current campaign finance environment. "Get money out of politics!" you might hear shouted at a Bernie Sanders rally.
The irony is that it may actually be Donald Trump, not Bernie Sanders, who is getting money out of politics, simply by failing to have much money driving his presidential campaign.
On Monday night, Federal Elections Commission reports came out detailing the expenses, debt and fundraising efforts of campaigns and party committees. The story for the Trump campaign is a bleak one, having just north of a million dollars cash on hand, a significant amount of debt (much owed to Mr. Trump himself), and a staff of fewer than one hundred. All this, to go up against a Clinton campaign behemoth of 700 staff and cash reserves currently sitting over thirty-two times larger than Trump's.
Consider that for many voters, Trump having no fundraising base is a feature, not a bug. A million cable news packages have been run featuring supporters at Trump rallies pledging their support because Trump isn't "bought" by the donor class.
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04.26.2024