Money is the driving force in politics, and right now, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is scaring a lot of it away – in the form of mega-donors.
Many of the ultra-rich Republican donors are starting to fear that Trump will not be able to win the upcoming election. Vin Weber, a lobbyist and former representative from Minnesota, spoke with The Guardian about fears in the Republican establishment:
“I believe there’s an emerging consensus in the party that Trump isn’t going to win…We need to shift resources as much as we can to help down-ticket candidates including members of Congress.”
If Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wins the election in November, Democrats will only need to gain four seats to regain control of the Senate. Due to Donald Trump’s low poll numbers, many top Republicans are worried that the small Republican majority in the Senate is in huge danger of shifting back to the left.
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has reportedly met with Trump three times this year, including a visit in New York last week.
In the past meetings, Adelson pushed Trump to visit Israel. Trump has not done so.
He supported former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to be Trump’s Vice Presidential candidate. Trump instead selected Indiana Governor Mike Pence. No word on what the two discussed in New York this week, but Trump will probably not listen to whatever suggestion Adelson gave.
Adelson threw his support behind Trump at the beginning of the summer, indicating that he would be willing to spend up to $100 million on the presidential campaign. As of yet, Adelson had donated no money to Super PACs, although he has reportedly given $10 million to One Nation, a “dark money” group that can legally keep its donors secret. So far, One Nation has spent $16 million on Senate races this year.
The billionaire duo, the Koch brothers, are not planning on getting involved in the presidential race, and are instead looking at down-ticket Senate races. Casino mogul Steve Wynn announces earlier this month that he is staying out of the presidential race.
Former George Bush adviser Karl Rove, who co-founded many different fundraising groups, has called Trump “graceless and divisive” and is focusing his fundraising efforts on down-ticket races.
In short, Trump is losing his rich friends fast.
The recent hiring of Breitbart News chairman Steve Bannon as his campaign’s chief executive is yet another strange move that does little to win new supporters – something that Trump desperately needs. Most polls show him trailing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton by significant margins, sometimes by as much as double digits.
If Republicans in the Senate want to continue their campaign of obstruction should Hillary Clinton win the race, they will need to maintain the slim majority they currently have.
Although the likelihood of President Trump seems slimmer and slimmer, Republican strategists are doing their best to make sure that the political right is still able to control the direction the country is headed.
Feature Image via Liberal America Archives
