THE SHOW NOTES: The DeSantis Shake Up, Suing Fortnite, & Men Don’t Like Democrats
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The DeSantis Shake Up
The DeSantis team has fired roughly a dozen staffers with more dismissals expected as the 2024 candidate attempts to reset the narrative and cut spending amidst sagging poll numbers. The terminated staff was largely a collection of mid-level employees across multiple departments.
Why this matters: The DeSantis campaign burned through cash in Q2 on a hefty payroll of 90+ staffers. For perspective, the Trump team employs around 40 people in total. As DeSantis was unable to meaningfully increase his polling, the campaign deemed it necessary to slow the campaign’s burn rate in anticipation of a protracted multi-front primary fight.
Data Dump: Q2 Fundraising 2024
While the DeSantis campaign raised an impressive $20 million in Q2 of 2023, the DeSantis-aligned Super PAC is sitting on a staggering $130 million that is yet to be deployed.
Megadonors: While GOP megadonors are split largely between Ron DeSantis and Tim Scott, Donald Trump continues to be the small-dollar king, raising $14.6 of his $17.7 million from individuals giving less than $200.
Cash on hand: The candidate with the second largest cash on hand behind Donald Trump is… Tim Scott. While Scott lacks the high-powered DeSantis Super PAC, the campaign reported $21.5 million cash on hand compared to Trump’s $22.5 million and DeSantis’ $12.2 million.
Democrats: Joe Biden is running the definition of a bar-bones campaign to the chagrin of many Democrats. While Barack Obama spent $11 million at this point in the 2012 race, Biden spent a paltry $1.1 million despite raising $72 million in Q2 between the Biden campaign and the DNC.
The worry: Democrats are privately concerned about the low number of small-dollar donors the sitting President has been able to engage. While wealthy donors are supporting his 2024 campaign, Joe Biden earned less than half as many small-dollar donors as President Obama did during this point of the 2012 race.
From Politico on Biden’s misplaced confidence: “Take the talking point that Biden and the Democratic National Committee raised more on a per-day basis than Obama did during the 2nd quarter of 2011. It’s true. But it also leaves out the fact that individual donations were capped at $2,500 and national party donations were capped at $30,800 during Obama’s reelect. Today, those caps are $3,300 and $41,300. Or take the talking point that Biden has outraised his main competitors: Trump and DeSantis. Also true. But Biden’s number includes DNC totals. The Republican numbers do not.”
Voters Don’t Trust Democrats On Defense
The Liberal Patriot is highlighting a YouGov poll surveying voters on which party they trust with national defense.
When asked which party is closest to your views on maintaining a strong military and defense, 49 percent of voters choose Republicans and just 24 percent pick Democrats, a 25-point advantage for the GOP. Older Americans give Republicans a stronger advantage on this issue than younger ones, but it’s a clear political advantage that Republicans have over Democrats in all age brackets.
Racist Israel
A House Democrat attempted to appease pro-Palestinian protestors at the Netroots conference by claiming that Israel is indeed a racist state. Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal said, “As somebody who’s been in the streets and participated in a lot of demonstrations, I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state." Rep. Jayapal’s attempted to clarify the comment with a verbose tweet that raised more questions than answers.
Backlash: The Democratic House leadership team put out a statement claiming “Israel is not a racist state… As House Democratic leaders, we strongly support Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people.”
Context: Democrats are trying to keep anti-Semitic sentiments under wraps as four progressive house members have announced they will boycott the Israeli President’s scheduled speech before a joint session of Congress later this week.
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