Republican Donors, Now Is Your Time to Step UpLarry Elder
Aug 17, 2023
The Iowa caucuses may still be months away, but it’s already crunch time for Republican presidential candidates (myself included).
Here’s the situation: To qualify for the first Republican primary debate next week, the Republican National Committee (RNC) is requiring each candidate to attract 40,000 individual donors and register at least one percent in the polls. Whether intended or not, the RNC’s new requirement has rigged the rules of the game by imposing artificial, arbitrary limits that favor billionaire or establishment-backed candidates. Ahead of the debate, the goal is to ironically limit debate, saddling political outsiders with burdensome rules.
Nevertheless, I am on track to make the debate, like some of my fellow candidates. Still, it is discouraging to see the RNC undermine so many qualified, passionate Republicans whose voices deserve to be heard on the national stage. There are plenty of Republicans not named Donald Trump who have new ideas for the Grand Old Party—and how to defeat Joe Biden in 2024.
What the lead-up to the first debate has shown is that voter engagement matters now more than ever before. Donor engagement is even more important in 2024 than in election cycles past. Given the RNC’s threshold of 40,000 donors per candidate, there is an unprecedented opportunity for even the lowest-dollar donors to determine the outcome of the Republican primaries. Even donors who only chip in $1 could have an outsized impact on Iowa, New Hampshire, and other primary states.
My message to donors is this: It’s time to step up. If you’re passionate about a specific candidate who isn’t necessarily a frontrunner, now is the time to show your support by chipping in, even if “chipping in” translates to a $1 donation (and it doesn’t have to be me). I call it “hitting the tip jar.”
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Source:
https://townhall.com/columnists/larryelder/2023/08/17/republican-donors-now-is-your-time-to-step-up-n2627144
