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As the race for the White House draws to its smash finale, both campaigns are riding fast-paced tours of changing states, and are conspicuously absent in the liberal Golden State, where Biden leads Trump by more than 30 points.
Former Vice President of the United States of America, Joe Biden. Image: World Economic Forum.
LOS ANGELES – Joe Biden sharing a splitscreen with George Clooney. Kamala Harris participates in an online quiz with Marvel superhero movie stars.
Virtual fundraisers with Democratic and Hollywood leaders have combined with powerful anti-Donald Trump sentiment to spark an unprecedented flood of donations in California, the nation’s wealthiest state, long regarded as the source of income. of the party elections.
As the race for the White House draws to its smash finale, both campaigns are riding fast-paced tours of changing states, and are conspicuously absent in the liberal Golden State, where Biden leads Trump by more than 30 points.
But while Californians can’t influence the race by voting, Democrats say they have never seen such an extraordinary boom in fundraising and celebrity activism, even as a deadly pandemic fuels online events.
“It has been amazing. My inbox is full of emails every day from everyone in the entertainment industry: the business side, the creative side, everything … music, movies, television, everything,” said the Los Angeles-based Democratic strategist. Bill Carrick.
“Writers, directors, actors, producers, agents, that whole world is activated even more intensely,” he added.
Stars like the casts of “Seinfeld,” “Happy Days,” and “The West Wing” have held meetings online.
“Co-Chair” tickets for a Hillary Clinton chat hosted online by Amy Schumer on Wednesday totaled $ 50,000, while “young activists” were able to attend a virtual reading of “Wet Hot American Summer” with Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks and other movie stars from $ 50.
“The pandemic created virtual fundraising at Zoom, primarily, and these are tremendously successful,” Carrick said. “All that kind of thing has really exploded.”
Sacramento-based strategist Steven Maviglio believes that California Democrats’ fundraising dollars are “nearly double what they were four years ago,” a high baseline, given Hillary Clinton’s strong support. in 2016.
California “has always been seen as a kind of ATM machine,” he added. “But this year, the candidates haven’t really come here much to do in-person events. The money is coming to them.”
‘Star power’
California is the largest contributor to Biden’s war chest.
The $ 150 million Biden has raised in the state is one-fifth of his nominee committee’s total, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Federal Election Commission records show California’s donations to Biden totaling $ 130 million slightly smaller, reflecting the complex nature of campaign finance.
But both figures dwarf the $ 60 million Trump has raised in the state.
Outside of Silicon Valley, Tinseltown remains “the home base for a lot of money, for people who care passionately about politics” and provides vital “star power,” Maviglio said.
Biden is aided by strong Hollywood connections he forged as a senator and vice president – he appeared on the Oscars stage in 2016.
Director Steven Spielberg ($ 5.1 million) and actor / producer Seth MacFarlane ($ 3.6 million) are among the top Democratic individual donors this year, according to CRP data.
Despite initial fears that the pandemic would stifle fundraising by ending glitzy dinners and cocktails, many strategists say virtual events have facilitated the essential dollar-raising process.
Celebrities, free from complex filming schedules, don’t have to all be in the same place at the same time. They save themselves getting dressed, shaking hundreds of hands, and fighting notorious traffic. So are rich and busy donors.
“There is nothing normal in 2020,” Maviglio said. “In the past, one of the reasons people gave was to go to an event where they could see a celebrity. Now they can do it in the comfort of their home.
“They can’t get the autograph, they can’t get the picture, but they can still make the connections.”
California Conservatives
Hollywood is viewed as overwhelmingly liberal, and 88 percent of the entertainment industry’s $ 110 million donations went to Democrats this year, according to the CRP.
But its executives have a long history of giving to Republicans, from MGM’s Louis B. Mayer in the 1920s to Ronald Reagan’s extensive showbiz network.
Still, politicians on both sides told AFP that large entertainment industry donations for Trump had waned, and that the president skipped Los Angeles in a recent fundraising campaign in California organized by the 28-year-old tech billionaire. Palmer Luckey.
“In the entertainment business, in particular, Trump is just toxic,” Carrick said.
Conservative fundraiser Anne Dunsmore suggested this year’s Black Lives Matter protests boosted Democratic giving from Hollywood, while “other corporations that could have played on the Republican side are more reticent.”
“It may be possible in individual cases,” Carrick said.
“But more importantly, they just don’t like Trump’s policy.”
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