Hillary Clinton's major donors are encouraging her to show more "fire" in tonight's first Democratic presidential debate even as they worry that a charismatic Bernie Sanders is stealing much of the thunder,
Politico reports.
"There’s a deep hunger for more action and more fire in the belly, and lots of worry all the energy is with Bernie," said a major Clinton bundler in New York. "Donors are the base, and they like red meat the same way the activist wing of the party does. … Donors and bundlers are all momentum people like everyone else."
Both candidates are expected to release their fundraising totals later this week, however, Politico reports that the Vermont senator sees the first debate as an opportunity to "yield a multimillion-dollar surge from activists giving $10 or $20 each."
In the run-up to the debate, Clinton's big-money fundraisers have worked tirelessly to defend any criticism she has received. David Brock, Clinton's super PAC enforcer, said on Monday in
a speech to wealthy San Franciscans that Hillary "is running to strengthen middle-class families, a platform that speaks not only to Democratic primary voters but also to the general electorate."
And, Jay Jacobs, a Democratic donor, pointed out to Sanders' supporters that when it comes to domestic policy, the two candidates are not far apart on the issue. "Other than the deliveries being different, the deliverables are not that different between her and Sen. Sanders," said Jacobs. "There are obviously some policy distinctions, but the thing that is not recognized enough is that Hillary Clinton for her whole career has been a progressive."
Different from that of the GOP debates, when it comes to Hillary "engaging negatively" with other debate candidates, Jacobs confirmed "that has not been her approach."
However, Sanders' donors last month gave $1.2 million in two days in response to a fundraising plea for them to "fight back against … ugly attacks" from a Clinton-linked opposition research PAC. "We’ve worked with a lot of different campaigns and committees, and he’s certainly breaking a lot of records on our platform," said Erin Hill, executive director of ActBlue, a non-profit donation processing service.
Hillary, who has held dozens of fundraisers, has received donations as high as the limit of $2,700, but Politico reports that Sanders' supporters see tonight's debate as an opportunity for him to make inroads among major donors.
"Just being who he is is going to get him an audience that he hasn’t had, and a lot of the scary stories and ideas about him will be put to rest. He is not going to seem crazy to people," said Deborah Sagner, a New Jersey real estate executive and philanthropist who is influential in liberal major donor circles. "I’m talking about some donors who still think only Hillary can beat a Republican."
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