Notes

5 W Main: The Fundamentals of Campaign Finance in the U.S. In 15 weeks of the American presidential race, the Kamala Harris campaign spent some US$1.5 billion. Since the election, the campaign has continued to solicit money, which it’s directing to the Democratic Party’s principal executive-leadership board, the Democratic National Committee. The DNC, however, is laying off most of its staff, several hundred in total. The union representing DNC workers has been quick to criticize the DNC, not only for the scale of its post-election turnover but for laying off permanent employees with one day’s notice and no severance. And Democratic Party insiders have begun leveling recriminations at their leadership: What was all that money spent on, anyway?

The Harris campaign spent roughly $600 million on television and digital advertising, $70 million on mail, $28 million to produce merchandise, $50 million on paid canvassers, and some $111 million on online ads soliciting further donations. It also spent lavishly on consultants and celebrities—including the talk-show host Oprah Winfrey’s production company, close to $2.5 million.

Local party branches got their share, too. The Harris campaign sent at least $100 million to branches in battleground states. Which is emblematic of the role American presidents and presidential candidates now play in their parties. In The Fundamentals of Campaign Finance in the U.S.: Why We Have the System We Have, Diana Dwyre and Robin Kolodny explore how presidents and presidential candidates have become “fundraisers in chief.” They’ll travel to cities across America to collect money for their party’s local organizations. Over time, as the country’s political parties have become more and more hollowed out, they’ve also become more and more reliant on the president’s or candidate’s personal appeal—limiting the ability of local party heads to oppose their national leader.

In August, here at The Signal, Kolodny looked at the changing dynamics of political fundraising in America—and how new sources of money were shaping the coming U.S. election.

—Gustav Jönsson