Biden Allies Consider a Super-PAC to Boost His Lagging Campaign

Allies of Joe Biden are laying the groundwork for a potential super-PAC to support his presidential campaign, as the former vice president’s fundraising lags behind other Democrats, and as Republicans amass a record war chest for 2020.

The Biden campaign suggested in a statement Thursday that the Democratic candidate would no longer oppose having donors provide unlimited amounts of money to a super-PAC designed to support him.

'In this time of crisis in our politics, it is not surprising that those who are dedicated to defeating Donald Trump are organizing in every way permitted by current law to bring an end to his disastrous presidency. Nothing changes unless we defeat Donald Trump,' deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said in a statement released by the campaign.

Biden had rejected earlier efforts by his supporters to launch a super-PAC. But his campaign has struggled to keep up with the fundraising by Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.

Political strategists and supporters are preparing to form a fundraising group, reaching out to potential donors to gauge interest in giving.

“Biden has a group of people that he can rely on who will give large sums of money to a super-PAC when he creates it. I am, for one,” said New York investor Bernard Schwartz, a longtime Democratic donor.

Schwartz spoke with Biden before Thursday’s announcement and said the former vice president was “not at all disavowing a super PAC' when they spoke.

Another longtime Biden supporter also confirmed ongoing conversations about the super-PAC but declined to share specifics about the planning.

Schwartz said he did not know whether the super-PAC would work toward helping Biden win the Democratic nomination or would focus solely on President Donald Trump and the general election.

Biden donors are expressing concern about his inability to keep up with the money raised by the other top tier Democrats during the third quarter of the year.

He only had $9 million cash on hand number at the end of the quarter, putting him behind Kamala Harris, who is polling in single digits. Biden raised $15.7 million during the third quarter, about $2 million less than the campaign spent during those three months, according to campaign finance filings.

Schwartz, the head of BLS Investments, a private investment firm in New York, said he would not give to the super-PAC effort until Biden asks him to.

When Schwartz raised the prospect of the super-PAC in a recent conversation, Biden told him it’s not a priority at this point.

“It’s on the agenda but it’s not the primary issue on the agenda,” Schwartz said. “He’s confident enough that he can call upon it when he wants to call upon it.”