Republican presidential contenders, both announced and soon-to-be, are seeing a flood of political donations pouring in.
For Hillary Clinton, not so much.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the primary super PAC backing Hillary, Priorities USA, has managed to secure only about $5 million in “hard commitments.” It’s hoping to bring in $15 million by the end of June.
Several Republican contenders, by contrast, are reportedly seeing the dollars pour in, either to their super PACs, or to their campaigns for those who have announced.
Getting hard numbers for either side is difficult, since many of the candidates are counting both contributions and promised funds.
Even so, Jeb Bush, as yet undeclared, is boasting that his super PAC, Right to Rise, “has raised more money in its first 100 days than any other Republican operation in modern history,” according to a Washington Post story. Sources tell the Post that Bush is on track to raise $100 million by the end of May.
Senator Marco Rubio’s campaign claims to have received about $20 million in less than two weeks after he announced. And Senator Ted Cruz claimed he pulled in $31 million in commitments in his first week.
Assuming those reports are accurate, three Republican candidates have raised more than 10 times what Clinton’s super PAC hopes to raise by the end of next month.
Even Senator Bernie Sanders reportedly raised $1.5 million within 24 hours of announcing his candidacy.
Call it the “apathy gap.” Only a relatively small number of people are actually excited that Hillary Clinton is running and will likely be the Democratic presidential nominee.
The polls may show Clinton with 44 to 48 percent support against several of her Republican opponents, but the better gauge of voter excitement is when people will part with their hard-earned dollars.
By contrast, there is widespread excitement for a number of Republican candidates, and people are putting their money where their excitement is.
But don’t count her out yet. As the Clinton Foundation has demonstrated, the Clintons know how to raise money—especially from foreign governments and questionable businessmen.