Elizabeth Warren's New Fundraising Rule Is More Than a Gimmick

Her pledge to skip high-dollar events could be even more damaging to her competitors than it is to herself.

ELAINE GODFREY
5:00 AM ET


CHARLIE NEIBERGALL / AP

Rejecting donations from corporate political-action committees has become a trend among Democrats. Roughly 180 of them took the pledge ahead of the November midterm elections, and it quickly caught on among members of the 2020 field, including Senators Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, and Kirsten Gillibrand, who assured their voters that they’re prioritizing small-dollar contributions.

But now Elizabeth Warren is upping the ante, rejecting an entirely new pool of donors on top of corporate PACs. The Massachusetts senator recently announced she would no longer participate in the high-dollar fundraisers and phone calls with wealthy donors that typically permeate a presidential campaign, and on Monday she challenged other candidates to do the same. It’s a decision that could be much more consequential than the PAC-money promise: It could be way more damaging to her campaign coffers, and to those of any other Democrat compelled to match her pledge.

“A reason we saw candidates take the no-corporate-PAC pledge is … that money is only designed to buy influence and access,” said Adam Bozzi, the communications director for End Citizens United, a Washington, D.C.–based group working to reverse the 2010 Supreme Court decision. Warren, he said, is “taking it to the next level.”


In an email to supporters, Warren explained that instead of holding events specifically for wealthy donors, or offering them special seats or photo opportunities in exchange for donations, she will focus her time on local events and town halls. “My presidential-primary campaign will be run on the principle of equal access for anybody who joins it,” she wrote in the message, adding that the move will help her “build the kind of grassroots organization we need to win the general election.”

FULL story: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/elizabeth-warren-rejects-big-donor-events-2020-bid/583951/

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