Not all Republicans support fellow party member McCarthy
2023.01.11 08:51
Not all Republicans support fellow party member McCarthy
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – The Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives who attempted to thwart Kevin McCarthy’s bid for leadership last week have more in common than just extreme political views. Additionally, they control potent fundraising machines that are fueled by donations of a few dollars.
Similar to the anti-McCarthy group, the far-left Democratic Party lawmakers’ fundraising organizations rely more heavily on small donors than their party colleagues in Congress.
According to their financial disclosures, the 20 Republicans who opposed McCarthy in the leadership vote last week brought in more than a third of their campaign funds from donors who gave them $200 or less during the midterm election cycle. These donors included U.S. Representatives Jim Jordan or Byron Donalds.
That’s roughly twice as much as the rest of the Republican House conference reported.
Small donors provided roughly 43% of the funding for the six Republicans who didn’t back McCarthy even in the 15th and final vote for speaker, the same percentage as “The Squad,” a group of particularly progressive House Democrats.
In the most recent cycle, the Squad, which includes U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, raised approximately 47% of their funds from small donors, compared to approximately 18% from the rest of the House Democrats.
The analogy demonstrates how the rapid expansion of online political fundraising in the United States has rewarded politicians whose viewpoints significantly diverge from those of the mainstream party members who control party institutions like traditional fundraising dinners attended by elites.
A good thing for democracy, according to many political observers, is the growing importance of small donors, who can partially counter the influence of wealthy interest groups.
However, for some lawmakers, their wealth has made it more profitable to defy leadership and engage in social media feuds for attention than to follow the party line.
“It shows that the incentive structure has turned completely on its head,” said Republican strategist Douglas Heye, who was Eric Cantor’s top adviser in the past.
Heye stated that a turning point had occurred with Donald Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign. Due to a supply of controversial statements that drew him constant media attention, Trump was able to raise a significant amount of money from relatively insignificant donors.
One of the six House Republicans McCarthy failed to win over, Representative Matt Gaetz, claimed that McCarthy was too moderate to stand up to Democrats and too ingrained in government to combat political corruption in emails on Friday. You can’t let the biggest alligator run the show if you want to Drain the Swamp!”
Gaetz is a top House fundraiser, like other far-right Republicans and their fiercest adversaries on the other side of the political spectrum.
Even though his district is heavily Republican, he raised more than $6 million for his midterm election campaign and won by more than 30 points in November. Small donors provided nearly 60% of his funding.
In 2021, a viral digital advertisement in which she asserted her right to carry a pistol in Congress helped Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who also refused to support McCarthy, raise more than $7 million. By funds raised, Gaetz and Boebert ranked among the top 15 House Republican campaigns.
On the other side of the spectrum, Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made more than $12 million thanks to a significant online merchandising operation that sold T-shirts with slogans like “Tax the Rich.”
Rick Tyler, a former top aide to Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the House, expressed concern that online fundraising and social media encourage some candidates to focus more on toxic messaging than building toward legislative victories.
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