More corrections: Beto O’Rourke’s “defense” of Tulsi Gabbard that I mentioned yesterday was actually a response to one specific aspect of the entire situation. The question had been cut out of the clip I watched, so I incorrectly assumed he was dismissing the entire thing. His actual response was more along the lines of “this isn’t helping anyone” and not getting involved. I’ve changed yesterday’s post to reflect this.
Julian Castro sent a lot of emails, Cory Booker and Pete Buttigieg both offered up their partners for money, and Joe Biden is being transparent about public information. All of this and more happened over the weekend!
| Emails | Campaigns | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 110 | 17 |
| Non-Donor | 59 | 17 |
| Donor | 51 | 15 |
Julian Castro sent 8 emails over the weekend, leaving Kamala Harris’ paltry 6 emails in the dust. Both Joe Biden and Joe Sestak sent out 5 emails.
Campaigns were more active on Saturday than they were on Sunday, sending a whole 10 extra emails. Saturdays usually are a bit busier than Sundays, but usually both days are fairly low.
A lot of campaigns took the time to talk about what they’ve been up to or what they’re doing over the weekend. Joe Sestak has been emailing his “Profiles in Courage” to highlight people he learned from while walking across New Hampshire. Bernie Sanders was hugely excited about his massive NYC rally with Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. Tom Steyer offered me ways I could volunteer to help him out.
Cory Booker continued to hype up his girlfriend, actress Rosario Dawson, inviting us to enter a contest not only for debate tickets for November, but also to then have a meal with him and Rosario the next day.
Pete Buttigieg hyped up his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, by offering tickets to watch the musical Hamilton with Chasten in San Francisco. He used a couple Hamilton puns in the subjects of the emails that probably would have landed better if I’ve heard the songs, but were still common enough that I could recognize them for what they were (not giving up my shot to see Hamilton).
Joe Biden, meanwhile, was focusing back on Trump… and his cash.
Biden has a high burn rate, and he spent more money in Q3 than he raised. This is especially concerning with his middling fundraising numbers. Biden’s campaign is trying to spin this as he’s the only candidate running both a primary and a general election at the same time, thanks to Trump’s attacks, and that’s expensive!
He’s also pointing out that Trump’s attacks are falling apart, and he’s resorting to things like Donald Trump Jr. calling Biden’s campaign headquarters a dumpster fire.
I’m… not exceptionally moved either direction by this email. If your HQ being called a dumpster fire can set you off… oh boy, Biden. You need to stiffen that spine before the general.
While everyone was still asking for money (except Tom Steyer (volunteer) and Tim Ryan (a eulogy for Congressman Cummings)), Marianne Williamson finally changed up her massive technicolor donation buttons for something easier to fit onto one screen.
It’s worth noting as well that her spread of suggested donations has changed. When using her rainbow buttons, she would ask for $10-$500, reminding me frequently that the legal limit was $2,800. Now she seems to be on the other end of the spectrum, aiming for the low-dollar donors.
Williamson’s buttons have been all across the spectrum. I have a feeling her farewell post, if it happens, will have a rundown on the various buttons.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren announced some new merch (sweatshirts!) and so did Andrew Yang. I have to admit, Yang’s new merch actually made me smile a little with the play on his motto of “Not left, not right, forward.”
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders wants me to endorse him, Kamala Harris is having a rougher October than she did September (which was worse than August, which was worse than July…). Julian Castro has been super excited about his flood of support, but he’s still very upset at Tom Steyer for getting on the stage, and Elizabeth Warren is almost at 2 million total donations.
All in all, it’s not surprising it was a busy weekend.
