Image Politics, Polling & the Partisan Divide: Fundraising, Endorsements & Surrogates

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Fundraising, Endorsements & Surrogates – Tuesday, October 25th (Blog #8)

How important are fundraising, endorsements, and surrogates in modern campaigns? What strategies has your Election Eve Project candidate used to raise money and how effective have they been? Finally, what role have endorsements and surrogates played in your candidate’s campaign? To support your response, you can use either of the Daily Schedule readings for this week (Semiatin Ch. 2 or Ch. 8) along with one of the articles posted on Blackboard and a third article you find on your own.

32 comments:

Will GillogleyOctober 21, 2022 at 4:30 PM

Endorsements, fundraising, and surrogates have become integral to campaigns. Things like PACs have helped candidates immensely when it comes to fundraising. Not only do these exist to fundraise money for candidates, but they are independent of the candidate they are supporting.

Like PACs, interest groups have a strong influence over campaigns. In Chapter 8: Interest Groups, Super PACs, and Independent Expenditures: Driven by Ideology of Campaigns On THE Cutting Edge, the authors explain how interest groups are undermining American democracy as they can influence many factors of a campaign. This includes choosing and finding candidates that align with their beliefs, influencing and mobilizing voters via the latest technologies, and generating large amounts of money (Kasniunas 119-120,122). An example of one of these interest groups is the NRA (National Rifle Association). Their interest would be gun rights so they would align themselves with a candidate that supported gun rights. They could also tell all their followers to vote and or donate to this candidate as they have their best interest in mind. Endorsements also play a huge part in campaigns as a celebrity, politician, or organization giving a candidate a “seal of approval” is sure to influence a lot of people’s opinions on that candidate. Especially for the people who follow said endorsers

John Fetterman is seeming to have a strong support group when it comes to his fundraising and his endorsements (to a lesser degree). It has been reported that Fetterman has a substantially larger donation amount than Oz. “Mr. Fetterman’s total haul from individuals and committees, according to campaign finance reports due to the Federal Election Commission on Friday, checked in at $9.9 million. Mr. Oz, the cardiothoracic surgeon and TV celebrity, brought in $1.1 million, closing the gap a bit by loaning his campaign another $2.2 million” (Routh 2022). While Oz probably has a lot more money due to his celebrity status, it is quite impressive the amount of money Fetterman has been able to raise for his campaign only from $200 donations or less. As for the strategies he’s used to getting this money it’s unclear, but on his official website, there is a section to donate so I would assume that’s where most of the funding came from. Ironically, as of the 20th, Fetterman had a fundraiser in which president Biden appeared. This is a little surprising as Biden has low approval ratings, and most candidates seem to be avoiding him because of this (Hutzler 2022). We will see how this endorsement plays out for Fetterman. Personally, I think more locally-based endorsements will do him well. For example, the editorial board of The Philadelphia Inquirer just recently endorsed Fetterman (Khaled 2022). Not only is this a less polarizing endorsement as the paper leans center-left, but it is also native to Pennsylvania which is something that will register with voters.
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Franco MorganteOctober 21, 2022 at 7:20 PM
Fundraising is arguably the most important part of a campaign is it one of the main revenue sources for a campaign. More revenue allows candidates to make more ads and host different events like rallies or fundraisers. While campaigns do seek out small donations from their base, that's often not how campaigns get most of their donations. According to the book Campaigns on the Cutting edge, they write “However, most candidates must rely on brokers or interest groups in order to develop the tools to reach these small donors" (Nelson, page 24). While candidates do rely on small donations to function, it's much more common to get funding from interest groups and to have interest groups do the work of reaching out to voters.
John Fetterman has done his best to avoid money from influence groups and PACs, and has tried to be mostly funded by small donations. You can donate directly on his website in a range of $10-$1,000. These fundraisers seem to be successful as there have been reports that he has been outpacing his opponent Dr.Oz in funds. He has hosted multiple fundraising events, but recently it was announced that he is doing a special fundraiser with current president Joe Biden. It’s an interesting choice since Fetterman usually doesn’t have many campaign surrogates at his events. Campaign surrogates can be very beneficial to a campaign because if the surrogate is popular enough, then their endorsement can excite their voter base or attract undecided voters. However, that depends on the popularity and recognizability of that surrogate. Despite being the current president and leader of the democratic party, many democratic candidates have tried to distance themselves from him due to his unpopularity. According to an article from the Washington Post, they write “Incumbent presidents are often seen as a political liability, and candidates come up with creative ways to avoid a potentially damaging photo with them”(Viser, paragraph 23). John Fetterman previously was no exception to this rule. He had been very distant from Biden before, as he barely mentioned him in his speeches, and he has released ads attacking Washington's politicians that have harmed the working class. Which you can argue in-directly attacks Joe Biden. It seems like he is now deciding to join with Biden because the race appears to be much closer than it was a few months ago. An article from yahoo news highlights how Fetterman views this event, it says “I think the fact that it's a closed-door fundraiser tells you all you need to know about how the campaign feels about that” (Rodgers, paragraph 5). The fact that Fetterman is having this campaign bar press coverage of the fundraiser shows that he sees this as a risk. He wants Biden to try to get any potential voters that he will need to win, however he doesn’t want to appear too close to the president as it could look like he is selling out his platform in order to beat Oz. Only time will tell if this event will be effective or not.
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Katie LangleyOctober 23, 2022 at 10:14 PM
The Val Demings campaign has put significant emphasis on fundraising. Personally, I get texts “from Val” every day either addressed to myself, my brother or my mom. I never signed up for a mailing list, but I probably receive them because we are all registered Democrats, follow Democrats on social media and have been on lists for interest groups like MoveOn for years. As Kasniunas et. al (2021) affirm, “text messages direct supporters to online links where they can make financial contributions… All the interest group needs is a user’s cell phone number. Interest groups are also holding true to the saying, ‘There’s an app for that!’” (pp. 124.)
Interest groups and PACs are among the top of Deming’s contributors. Emily’s List, a pro-choice interest group, has contributed $257,703 to the Demings campaign in the past year, according to Opensecrets (2022.) Emily’s list plays a large role in who gets picked for Democratic nominations across the nation by training, funding and endorsing candidates; “in a typical year, the group sees just under a thousand women reaching out about the program. Following the 2016 election, a record-breaking 42,000 women expressed interest in participating in the trainings” (Kasniunas et. al, 2021, pp. 121.)
Womencount PAC also supports Demings, contributing $27,114 to the campaign this year, according to opensecrets (2022.) The Womencount (2022) mission boasts, “A smarter, simpler way to elect more Democratic women. Give to candidates who reflect your values – or just seem cool. Because 27% of Congress and 68th in the world is (still) not good enough.” Because Womencount is crowd funded rather than an individual donor, it is a PAC, not a super PAC (Boatright, 2021, pp. 15.)
In total, the congresswoman has raised $64,682,883 in 2021-22, taking in far more than Sen. Marco Rubio, according to Opensecrets (2022.) When it comes to individual donors, Putnam and Sifry (2022) wrote that Democratic candidates perhaps put too much emphasis on the small numbers. “Recent studies show that the effectiveness of such approaches varies from small to nil to negative. People who volunteer on campaigns are often nothing like other Americans in their politics” (Putnam and Sifry 2022, para. 9.) Though Demings doesn’t seem to have any issue raising money, It’s possible that the constant bombardment of texts and emails from Demings might give voters the impression that the Demings campaign is digital and distant, rather than local and committed to grassroots organization.
When it comes to campaign surrogates, it seems like President Biden would be the obvious choice for Democratic midterm candidates. However, the Demings campaign, like many, has chosen to pass up Biden appearances in favor of distancing itself from the president’s low approval rating (Viser, 2022.)
On the other hand, Demings appears very keen on securing endorsements from law enforcement groups, as shown by her reliance on a “trust the chief of police” narrative in her ads and speeches. However, 50 out of 55 Florida sheriffs are republicans, with 12 endorsing Rubio. In addition, Rubio is backed by the Florida Police Chiefs Association and the Florida Police Benevolent Association (Morgan, 2022.) These endorsements are important because it shows that voters in the law enforcement community do not believe Demings stands for them as much as she says she does.
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AnonymousOctober 24, 2022 at 3:13 PM
Caitlyn Piascik Blog 8:
Fundraising, endorsements and surrogates are crucial parts of modern campaigns because they are the main sources of revenue for a campaign. According to Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, “As American politics has become more polarized, it has become necessary for candidates to rely on national organizations that work to direct contributions to candidates who need money” (Boatright). PACs are also instrumental parts of campaigns as they have helped candidates when it comes to national fundraising and garnering large contributions. According to Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, “Many campaigns today – and, in particular, the campaigns that tend to capture national media attention – are fueled by partisan donors. This is true at all levels of politics – the more contributors a candidate has, even if these contributors only give a small amount, the more people are available for other types of campaign activities” (Boatright).

According to Dave Williams, “Warnock brought in more than $17.2 million during the second quarter, the senators campaign reported Wednesday” (Williams). His campaign is largely fueled by individual donors and his campaign website is evident of that because it asks you to donate before entering the page. According to Williams, “The Warnock campaign received contributions from more than 258,000 individual donors during the second quarter. The average donation was $37” (Williams). These can be seen as grassroots donors who have supported the efforts of Walker’s campaign. Warnock also has key endorsements from many companies that contribute to these donations as well as various fundraising events. I believe his strategies for raising money have been extremely successful because he has earned a higher amount than his opposing candidate which only helps to boost his campaign.

Raphael Warnock has a significant number of endorsements that support his campaign, however, there has not been any key surrogates that have played into that campaign as of date. However, according to AP News, “Former President Barack Obama is headed to Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin in the closing days of the 2022 campaign to give a boost to Democrats running for governor, senator and on down the ballot” (AP News). Therefore, Obama may become a key surrogate in support of Warnock’s campaign in the near future.
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Amber ManginiOctober 24, 2022 at 9:25 PM
Fundraising, endorsements, and surrogates are extremely crucial in modern campaigns as they can have extremely large impacts on election results. Candidates who gather ample amounts of fundraising are able to host large rallies, make donations to charitable organizations, travel to different cities and states, and set out more ads on numerous platforms. While money plays a large role in campaigns, approval and acceptance from important organizations and people through endorsements and surrogates help paint a picture of the candidate for the public. In the chapter “Interest Groups, Super PACs, and Independent Expenditures: Driven by Ideology” from the book Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, the authors said, “Organizations issue formal endorsements to signal to their members which candidates best represent their viewpoints. Endorsements are primarily a means to convince group members to vote for the candidates who will be most friendly to the group’s interests once elected”. Continuing they said, “The endorsement is not only a signal to group members which candidates with the ‘seal of approval’ but it is also a mean to persuade a larger public. Thus, an endorsement from the Sierra Club of the League of Conservation Voters would be a strong signal to voters as to which candidate in a campaign is more environmentally friendly” (Kasniunas et al., 121). This shows that surrogates and endorsements not only persuade voters but also help relay the candidate’s values and morals.
While the Florida Senate Candidates were neck-and-neck in fundraising through the first quarter of this year, Val Demings has begun to surpass her opponent raising $4.7 million in a 34-day period. Demings has been raising large amounts of money by using a small-doner strategy. The small-donor strategy is the idea of relying on citizens’ contributions of small amounts of money. Val Demings uses all of her social media platforms to share the link to her donation website encouraging her supporters to help her flip Florida blue. According to the article “Val Demings Raises $44.6 Million for First Fundraising Report” on Florida Politics, Scot Powers said, “Through the March reports, only a handful of U.S. senators across the nation — 14 incumbents — had raised as much as $4.6 million in total for their 2022 bids, according to the FEC” (Powers). This tells us that Val Demings' reliance on small donors has been extremely effective as she has raised more than many U.S. Senators.
Val Demings is endorsed by multiple organizations that reflect her morals and views on pressing issues, like the National Organization for Women, Alliance for Retired Americans, National Education Association, Feminist Majority Political Committee, Human Rights Campaign, etc. These organizations supporting Val Demings in her fight for Senet speaks volumes about what is important to her. Unfortunately, Demings does not have great surrogate options. The democratic President Joe Biden who should be her first option has been seeing a giant decrease in support. According to the article “As Biden Turns Toward Midterms, He May Not Be the Top Surrogate” in the Washington Post, Matt Viser said, “He’s being attacked more often in televised ads than Obama was at this point in 2010, or Trump was in 2018. He goes largely unnamed on Democratic campaign websites and Twitter accounts. And candidates in key races in battleground states are either not asking him to come — or actively avoiding him when he does”. Continuing he said, “Few candidates said they wanted Biden to campaign for them in their state or district, with many not responding to the question at all” (Viser).
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AnonymousOctober 24, 2022 at 10:15 PM
Charlie Windels Part 1

Fundraising, endorsement, and surrogates in modern campaigns are extremely important and almost critical to the success of a campaign as they are the primary source of revenue. For a campaign to accomplish its goals money is a must. After reading chapter 8 of Campaigns on Cutting Edge it was apparent to me how much strategies for raising money have changed over the years in politics. The reading mentions how there is much more of an emphasis on online fundraising because candidates can reach more people. The reading quotes “The old model, where candidates slowly build a network of friends and business associates within their home districts and states, has been replaced by a model where online organizations and fundraising portals such as ActBlue and Swing Left have become vital players in campaign finance” (Boatright). Many candidates are taking this new approach to fundraise including Marco Rubio and Val Demmings who raised over $40 million and have been spending that money rapidly.

In addition to fundraising, endorsements are also a critical part of a candidate's campaigns as they promote and help show approval towards the candidate's goals, values, and overall success. Over the past 6 years, Marco Rubio’s campaign has relied heavily on endorsements. While Rubio may not have received quite the amount of fundraising as Demmings he is endorsed by a massive amount of colleagues and other officials from across the country. An Article I was reading titled Marco Rubio’s Major Endorsements talked about how successful Rubio is in receiving praise from many significant political figures. The article explains, “Marco Rubio has become an endorsement magnet, scoring Republican support early on and maintaining a strong courting game throughout the election cycle” (Politico: Marco Rubio’s Major Endorsements). Overall this is huge for the success of Rubio’s campaign and is something he has over Demmings that could prove influential leading up to the election.
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AnonymousOctober 24, 2022 at 10:15 PM
Charlie Windels Part 2

Lastly, I wanted to look at celebrity endorsements and their effect on campaigns, more specifically Rubio’s campaign. After doing some research and reading the class articles I was very surprised to see that celebrity endorsements do not have as much of an effect as I initially thought they would. In an article titled Politicians Seek To Leverage Celebrities To Reach Voters by Jeff Amy, he mentions how Mark Harvey a management professor at the University of St. Mary thinks Celebrity endorsements can be either effective or not effective at all. The article quotes “The professor said research on celebrities who endorse and market products shows such advertising is “not nearly as effective as you might think.” Harvey said that it might be reasonable to assume that celebrity endorsements of candidates might be similarly hit-or-miss (Amy). This is because celebrities can draw too much media attention to certain issues rather than the candidate. After looking into Rubio he tends to stay away from celebrity endorsements which seemingly are not helping or hurting him in any way. I think he should continue to stay away from celebrity endorsements as this could potentially bring up other issues and be on the riskier side as mentioned in the reading.

Works Cited

Boatright, Robert G. "Chapter 2 Fundraising: Toward Donor-Centered Politics?" Campaigns on
the Cutting Edge, by Richard Semiatin, 4th ed., SAGE Publications, 2020, pp. 11-26.

Staff, Politco. “Marco Rubio's Major Endorsements.” POLITICO, 3 July 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/marco-rubio-endorsements-220197.

Politicians Seek To Leverage Celebrities To Reach Voters
By Jeff Amy Associated Press October 21, 2022 https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-herschel-walker-entertainment-atlanta-lin-manuel-miranda-
b10665e3aa90fa7086c3859236e13768
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Melina MaldonadoOctober 25, 2022 at 12:08 AM
It has become very prevalent online that fundraising is very important to Val Demings. On her website, the first thing that pops up is the section to donate money. It seems harsh at first but a quote from Campaigns on the Cutting Edge explains it best, “When candidates court several dozen potential contributors, they are not just raising money—they are campaigning.” (Boatright, 23). Demings asking for money contributes to her political campaign by spreading her name to civilians through social media, websites, texts, calls, emails, etc. According to Bradenton Herald, “Demings raked in more than $17 million to her campaign from July 1 to Sep. 30, bringing her fundraising totals to about $65 million.” (Wall, Bradenton Herald). Out of the $65 million she has spent roughly $59 million of it, leaving her with about $6 million on hand. Her top donor is EMILY’s List with $257,703, which is a resource for women in politics.
Endorsements are also important in modern campaigns because it helps show the public the issues the politicians believe in based on who is endorsing them. For example, one of Demings’ endorsements is Giffords which is all about saving lives from gun violence. When the public sees that Demings is endorsed by Giffords, it tells them that she believes in gun control.
Surrogates are probably the most common thing we see nowadays in political campaigns. It shows voters that candidates are backed up by other influencers such as other political figures and celebrities. It’s used to make voters think that if they like a candidate's surrogate, they might actually like the candidate. A surrogate that Demings recently had was Jill Biden in a “Fight for our Rights” event to help save our constitutional rights.
The strategies that Demings has been using to raise money are mostly online. She has the donation spot open as soon as you click on her website and there is even a feature to donate monthly. She also has used her donation website as an advertisement as it is the first thing to pop up when you search for her name on Google. She also has third parties you can donate to that will give your donation to her. These include her endorsements like EMILY’s List and ActBlue. Her donation website is also featured in her LinkTree which is in the bio of her Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. In addition, she has a newsletter email subscription and text message subscription.
The role of the endorsements and surrogates is to partner with Demings and enforce her values. EMILY’s List and Jill Biden both show that she is in favor of supporting other democrats and women in politics. Overall, Demings’ tactics have cost her millions of dollars just like how the New York Times says, “Millions of dollars and hours were wasted in 2018 and 2020.” (Putnam & Sifry, New York Times). Let’s see if her money is being wasted on November 8.

References:
Boatright, Robert G. "Chapter 2 Fundraising: Toward Donor-Centered Politics?" Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, by Richard Semiatin, 4th ed., SAGE Publications, 2020, pp. 23.
Putnam, Lara, and Micah L. Sifry. “Fed up with Democratic Emails? You're Not the Only One.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Aug. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/opinion/democrats-2024-election.html.
“Rep. Val Demings - Campaign Finance Summary.” OpenSecrets, https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/val-demings/summary?cid=N00033449.
“The Voter's Self Defense System.” Vote Smart, https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/137637/val-demings.
Wall, Sheridan. “Rubio Holds Lead despite Demings’ Raising, Spending Advantage ...” Bradenton Herald, https://www.bradenton.com/news/politics-government/article267447342.html.
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Will GavinOctober 25, 2022 at 12:38 AM
Campaign finance is the proverbial backbone of each and every political campaign; should money be the deciding factor in who is elected to office…probably not, but that’s America.
Fundraising takes many forms: bundling, campaign events, phone banking, direct mailers, merchandise, political action committee fundraising (including your “normal” PACs, SuperPacs, joint-fundraising committees and leadership PACs) and more. As Boatright states, “Campaign events have always been a common way for candidates to raise money. These events range from relatively casual “meet and greet” events that may cost only $50 or $100 per person to fancier $2,700-per-person dinners. Contributors at these events get the benefit of meeting the candidate and mingling among others who share their financial means and interest in the campaign”(13). Furthermore, he goes on to say that the most “lucrative” fundraising occurs at events where celebrities and “superstars” are in attendance: athletes, actors, well-regarded politicians and businessmen, etc (Boatright 14). These friendly-faces, surrogates, often are a boon for a good campaign; they’re unoffensive, popular(at least with the politician’s base of support) and offer legitimacy and clout to the candidate. Unfortunately, Dr. Mehmet Oz has burned a lot of bridges in his transformation from kooky bowels-obsessed day-time doctor to Republican candidate for Congress.

The Oz campaign has had a rough time raising money and has seemingly taken a derisive and bitter stance when confronted with that fact. Back in July, the Oz campaign texted supporters the “MAGA MOVEMENT IS DYING,” followed by "Liberals are winning the fundraising race, and the America First Pro-Trump movement feels defeated,” ;At around this time the John Fetterman campaign was beating Oz with $9.9 million to $1.1 million in campaign contributions (since April) (Parsley). Oz repeated this tactic several times over, including in a September fundraising blitz. The campaign sent 23 fundraising emails over about a week, and “more than 100 fundraising texts and emails” in the whole of September, letting supporters know he was getting beaten (Sollenberger). One email titled “It would be humiliating” complained that “Democrats are STILL MASSIVELY outraising Republicans,” and many more followed this seeming theme. Obviously, Oz is trying to create a sense of urgency (similar to how every election is really “the most important yet”) in order to get contributions. Oz has also done more traditional fundraising events... but in typical Oz fashion he created another scandal. Most of his events went well enough, no massive coverage but nothing to complain about, but at an event at the Lyon Air Museum he happened to hold his event in a room with the car once owned by… Adolf Hitler (Johnson). Not a great look.
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Ryan BusilloOctober 25, 2022 at 1:13 AM
Fundraising is perhaps the most important element in any campaign. In fact, due to online fundraising and the ramifications of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, “money matters more than ever,” (Boatright, 11). Raising a large sum of money is essential for campaigns to put themselves in a position to win, though does not always equal victory. Endorsements are good signals to voters about the ideology of a candidate. For example, in a crowded primary Senator Bernie Sanders’ endorsement can signal to progressive voters that the endorsed candidate is the most progressive in the race. On the flip side, an endorsement by the National Rifle Association will signal to gun owners that the endorsed candidate will vote against gun control. Surrogates can help the campaign reach more voters than it otherwise would. Since the candidate can’t be in two places at once, sending a surrogate in their place can help the campaign double dip in their constituency.
John Fetterman’s campaign has been funded largely by small dollar, online donations. According to The Hill, in the most recent filing report, he raised $22,000,000 “which came from 330,000 different donors,” (Greenwood). Quick math shows that is an average of roughly $67 per donor. While a far cry from Sen. Sanders’ famous $27 average donation, it remains small in the context of many other races. Another article in the Post-Gazette notes that much of an earlier filing by Fetterman “were line-by-line transactions from ActBlue, the Democrats’ online fundraising tool that puts money from donors directly into candidates’ coffers,” (Routh). The prevalence of ActBlue contributions shows that these small dollar donors are coming from online, taking full advantage of the technology. The Fetterman campaign has also been creating a sense of urgency in this race, warning that Oz is funneling his own money into the race and they need small donors to help combat that. Fetterman has also taken full advantage of merch, fundraising with products that bear his logo and others that troll Oz. The aforementioned fundraising numbers show this strategy has been deeply effective.
In the coming weeks, endorsements and surrogates will begin to play a much bigger role than they have previously. Aside from a few Biden appearances, and joint events with Josh Shapiro, Fetterman has mostly done events with his wife or solo. As the election nears this is changing, in my view for the better. Former President Obama and President Biden will be coming to the state to campaign for Fetterman and Shapiro in the days before the election. Additionally, Fetterman has announced an event with musician Dave Matthews. The lack of surrogate events for Fetterman hasn’t helped his campaign, especially since his stoke kept him home, and appearances brief. Having Matthews, Obama, and Biden appear will help excite voters and give the events guaranteed media.
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Connor YoungbergOctober 25, 2022 at 1:17 AM
Fundraising, endorsements and surrogates are extremely important factors in modern campaigns. Candidates need endorsements and surrogates in order to expand their audience and get more potential voters aware of their campaign. In order for candidates to have successful rallies and events, they need a lot of funding. The candidate with more funding will most likely have better rallies, more events and a lot more events in many different places. Money is really the key to the modern campaign. In chapter 2 of the book “Campaigns on the Cutting Edge,” it states that while money matters now more than ever, the candidates are not the dominant financiers of their campaigns. Although a candidate may have a strong audience campaigning themselves, their campaign will be stronger and reach a larger audience, which will ultimately help them on election day.

Many campaigns elect to have celebrities join them at rallies. I know for me personally, I knew next to nothing about politics in 2020, but when I saw that Donald Glover, my favorite celebrity, was endorsing Andrew Yang, I was immediately drawn in and interested in him as a candidate. However, Herschel Walker is already a celebrity himself, which adds a unique element to the campaign. Not that Walker shouldn’t have a celebrity endorse him, but he kind of doesn’t need it. He kind of acts as an endorsement for himself, with many people, especially in Georgia, already knowing him for his football career. According to an article titled “Politicians seek to leverage celebrities to reach voters” by AP News, when Walker is interacting with his supporters at events, people ask him to sign football jerseys and other memorabilia from his playing days. Personally, I learned that Herschel Walker was even running for Senate in this class. I’ve always known Walker as a running back and that alone had me interested in his campaign. It’s easy to believe that thousands of Georgians will vote and support Walker simply because of his football past.

Herschel Walker has not done a great job fundraising so far. According to an NBC News article, Senator Warnock has raised over $85 million so far this cycle, which is much more than Walker, who has only raised just over $20 million in the same amount of time. Walker does not really have fundraising strategies, hence why he is so far behind in funding. However, according to the same article, Walker just recently surged in fundraising following his appearance on Fox’s Hannity, which occurred after the news came out about him paying for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. He has raised over $500,000 since the appearance, turning what could have been a campaign nightmare into a fundraising success.

In terms of endorsements and surrogates, the first and only name that comes to mind is Donald Trump. Walker is not only good friends with Trump, but has been endorsed by him politically. Our Election Eve group has talked a lot about Trump being a major part of Walker’s campaign. His branding is similar, his views are similar and many of Walker’s supporters are voting for him due to his affiliation with Trump. Walker’s entire campaign is largely based on two things: Trump and football. I would not be at all surprised if Trump showed up to a Walker rally to get even more Trump supporters on his side before the election is over. We’ll have to wait and see if a Trump endorsement puts Walker over the edge in this election.
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Jennifer MogliaOctober 25, 2022 at 1:25 AM
Fundraising, endorsements, and surrogates are extremely important to modern political campaigns. As stated in Chapter Two of Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, “As American politics has become more polarized, it has become necessary for candidates to rely on national organizations that work to direct contributions to candidates who need money. " I think that this sentence summarizes the importance of fundraising and money in current political campaigns perfectly. It’s no secret that politics is more divisive right now than it ever has been, and in situations of controversy and debate, the saying goes, “money talks.” One of the biggest reasons why fundraising and money are so important in campaigns in my eyes is because money pays for advertising, which puts more eyes on a campaign and gives it more exposure.

The campaign I have been following has been Herschel Walker’s run for senate, and money has become a very interesting topic in this campaign during the month of October. He hasn’t had any obvious fundraising strategies. In fact, his biggest surge in fundraising came from a scandal that he (most likely) didn’t even plan. Falling in line with the stereotype of the “October Surprise,” The Daily Beast reported at the beginning of this month that Walker had paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. This was shocking to many due to the fact that Walker has presented himself as a very pro-life/anti-abortion candidate. According to NBC News, Walker and his team had raised over $500,000 in the days following the story breaking and his appearance on Fox’s Hannity. He still trails Warnock in fundraising, by over $60 million as of October 5th, but this increase was certainly significant. In so many ways, Walker is a non-traditional candidate, so it only makes sense that his most effective fundraising strategy would be having no strategy at all and just getting in the middle of some drama.

The biggest endorsement/surrogate in Walker’s campaign thus far has been former President Donald Trump. Trump officially endorsed Walker on his Truth Social platform, calling him a “shining star” back in September. Trump has been supporting Walker consistently since, even defending him after the abortion scandal broke (again, on Truth Social). This endorsement can be a good or a bad thing depending on your feelings on Donald Trump’s impact on the republican party. In The Washington Post’s article “Trump’s dominance in GOP comes into focus, worrying some in the party,” it is emphasized that he is essentially the poster child for the party at this point. He is described as having a “viselike grip” on the party, basically being able to get whatever he wants whenever he wants it (for example, a presidential nomination in 2024). This is a good thing for Walker and his team - with Donald Trump’s support, Walker has a much better chance of winning, since Trump usually gets what he wants, and he wants Walker to win. However, from an outside perspective, it’s pretty concerning that anyone can have this much power over anything. When you add in that person being former president Donald Trump, it gets even scarier.
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Cj BenedettiOctober 25, 2022 at 3:51 AM
Cj Benedetti
Fundraising, Endorsements, and Surrogates are all extremely important when it comes to campaigns. Campaigns, in general, are huge undertakings overall, and you need to be able to mobilize a large number of people for your cause. This means that there are expenses in paying people who work for the campaign, lawn signs, stickers, billboard ads, radio ads, tv ads, and travel. That is a long and expensive list of things that cost a campaign, and I'm sure I’ve missed many more expenses. Marco Rubio has been doing many of the classic ways. First, email. Marco Rubio sends out emails to his constituents asking for donations to his campaign and his cause, and one of the ways I know this is that he actually once had a problem with this gmail account in which his fundraising emails went straight to people's spam folders. (Masnick). Furthermore, when he goes onto the news to sit down he also asks for donations or for people to go to his website, this once happened on Fox News during his interview (Gancarski). He asked for people to help him out by going to his website. By going to his website, we can see two other ways that he raises funds. On his website on the top there is a big red block button that just says “Donate” on it, so you can click that if you are so inclined, and if you swipe on his website, the second page is a donation page with denominations listed out that you could donate it. He also has a store on his website with campaign merch, which I assume the profit margin of that would go towards his campaigning, as did Trumps: “The hats sold for between $25 and $45, and the campaign estimated after the election that it has sold one million of them, at a profit of $8 per hat” ad were described as “a highly successful mixture of fundraising and candidate advertising” (Boatright). This strategy is “a long-standing principle of political advocacy that people will be motived to give if they get a tangible material benefit from their donation” (Boatright). Political Candidates can also use PAC’s or Super-PACs who can donate any amount of money to a campaign, though in the article “New Trump-Backed Super PAC Pours $8.6 Million In Ad Spending Into Key Races" Rubios campaign is not mentioned. Endorsements are also a huge part of any campaign, as I’ve mentioned in previous blogs Marco Rubio has been endorsed by Trump in his Flordia race, but has been very lowkey about it. The reason why is expressed in “Trump’s Dominance in GOP Comes Into Focus, Worrying Some in the Party” by Knowles, Dawsey, and Weigel stating “Some Republican strategists have voiced worries about Trump’s influence, fretting that he is elevating less electable candidates in crucial races and that his polarizing presence in the midterms could complicate Republican attempts to win back control of Congress by running on concerns about inflation, crime and other problems that have persisted under Democratic control of the federal government” (Knowles, et al.). This idea is crucial because there are many republican base members that have felt polarized by Trump’s ideals and policies, so an endorsement by him in these midterm elections could cause leaning republicans and independents to lean away from those candidates, and in this case Rubio.
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AnonymousOctober 25, 2022 at 10:43 AM
Bella Baird
Fundraising allows candidates to create advertising platforms to further their chance in the elections. Fundraising is a key part for the races because it gives each candidate something to work with for renting out events and running advertisements constantly. Endorsements and surrogates are people with high influence that can back up a candidate to create a larger target audience. The textbook, “Campaigns On The Cutting Edge,” states that "most every interest group and campaign has a presence on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube''(Ch. 8). With enough fundraising, candidates are able to make a stance on each one of those platforms and reach a huge audience. Social media sites are able to reach teen viewers and many parents. Demings has been able to raise a lot of money during this campaign, “Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings raked in $8.4 million during the last three months for her U.S. Senate campaign — more than any candidate has raised at this stage of a Senate campaign in Florida history” (Egles). Although Demings makes it slightly difficult to find her advertisements, she has been endorsed by the Bidens in the past. She is endorsed by Communications Workers of America, Alliance for Retired Americans, Florida LGBTQ+, Palm Beach Editorial Post, Emily’s List, and many other organizations. Using the fundraised donations, Demings has been able to share, “the story of Val Demings herself: a centrist Black woman with a background in law enforcement”(Harris). Allowing Demings to share her story gives the community a chance to understand her. Fundraising and endorsements are two of the most important aspects that give campaign teams something to work with.

Egles, Jacob. “Val Demings Pulls in $8.4m in 'Historic' Third Quarter Fundraising Haul.” Val Demings Pulls in $8.4M in 'Historic' Third Quarter Fundraising Haul, https://www.emilyslist.org/news/entry/val-demings-pulls-in-8.4m-in-historic-third-quarter-fundraising-haul.
Harris, Adam. “The Val Demings Gamble.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 12 Sept. 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2022/09/val-demings-midterms-2022-democratic-party/671327/.
Semiatin, Richard J., et al. “‘Chapter 8 Interest Groups, Super PACs, and Independent Expenditures: Driven by Ideology.’” Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, CQ Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, 2021.
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Alessia ScaturchioOctober 25, 2022 at 11:06 AM
In modern campaigns fundraising, endorsements and surrogates are the backbone of any campaign. According to the textbook there are multiple groups of people and ways to consider while fundraising for a campaign. The more traditional way to gain money is through “ Partisan donors, even if these contributors only give a small amount, the more people are available for other types of campaign activities…Campaigns such as these can bring new donors into politics, and many of these donors will undoubtedly remain active in politics for years to come.” ( Boatright, 12/13) Acquiring these Partisan donors is really important because a good portion of your fundraising money raised will come from them. Surrogates are also incredibly important in campaigns. “ When candidates are busy calling regular donors, they are losing time that they could spend campaigning. One way to avoid this problem is to have surrogates do the fundraising. This strategy might be useful when candidates have effective surrogates—that is, a president might rely on other members of his or her party to make fundraising pitches.” ( Boatright, 16) Without these surrogates making phone calls the candidate would not be able to raise this large sum of money that they need on their own. We also need surrogates now more than ever because campaign fundraising is becoming even harder. A campaign to stay a float will also need endorsements. Endorsements are companies that have the same political beliefs as the candidate and will continue to support them once elected. Endorsements in modern campaigns are huge, especially because of all the media we have now tracking what companies are doing and who they are supporting.
“ The endorsement is not only a signal to group members as to which candidates win the “seal of approval,” but it is also a means to persuade a larger public. Thus, an endorsement from the Sierra Club or the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) would be a strong signal to voters as to which candidate in a campaign is more environmentally friendly. A National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsement tells many voters which candidate is likely to uphold the interests of gun owners. Groups have to issue endorsements carefully and strategically.”( Kasniunas,Rozell, Keckler, 122) These endorsements can also help people learn about a candidate and be persuaded to vote for one versus their competitor.
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Michael LaRoccaOctober 25, 2022 at 11:51 AM
Works Cited

Boatright, Robert G. “Fundraising: Toward Donor-Centered Politics?” Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, edited by Richard J. Semiatin, CQ Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, 2021, pp. 11–28.
Breuninger, Kevin. “Trump and GOP Defend Herschel Walker after Abortion Accusation Rocks Georgia Senate Race.” CNBC, CNBC, 5 Oct. 2022, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/04/georgia-senate-election-donald-trump-defends-herschel-walker-after-abortion-report.html.
Kapur, Sahil, and Alexandra Marquez. “Herschel Walker Has Raised over $500,000 since Abortion Story.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 5 Oct. 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/herschel-walker-raised-500000-abortion-story-rcna50903.
Knowles, Hannah, et al. “Trump's Dominance in GOP Comes into Focus, Worrying Some in the Party.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 18 Aug. 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/17/trump-cheney-wyoming-republicans/?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_headlines&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F37aea8c%2F62fe0dd61930ae1d20545fa7%2F5b2e6f76ae7e8a6f6d36dd7c%2F8%2F66%2F62fe0dd61930ae1d20545fa7&wp_cu=fc1d3fdfe3c43375337d40b422809773%7C6F5246A10D6D61FDE0530100007F0E83.
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Jack SpiegelOctober 25, 2022 at 12:06 PM
Fundraising is arguably the most important internal aspect of running a campaign. It is the foundation on which you can hire staff, print literature and mailers, and get your name out there. While this is important on a national level, it is just as important on a local level, if not more important. With candidates running for officec like school board and county sheriff, name ID is how races are won, and you cannot obtain that ID without fundraising.

In recent years more prolifically, and across the previous election cycles, PAC’s and other independent expenditures have had a major influence on elections. In the 2020 election (both presidential, and congressional), a record $14.4 billion were spent. Nearly 3.5 billion of those dollars was from outside spending (including PACs and IECs). A full breakdown of the numbers can be found on opensecrets.org (OpenSecrets).

Though a large part of special interest groups is fundraising, Nina Therese Kasniunas, Mark J. Rozell, and Charles N. W. Keckler say "Some groups train activists in the techniques of campaigns, and other groups actively recruit and train candidates for public office" (Kasniunas et. al). One example if this is the Working Families Party who runs candidates through both democratic primaries, and also runs candidates on their own platform. Many of the candidates they support are for local and state races, but they also support higher profile candidates like Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), as well as Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY).

Another large aspect of campaigns, more noticeably in higher profile races is the use of surrogates. In senate races throughout the country, getting the support of other high profile political and social figures is essential to a successful campaign. In Herschel Walker’s campaign the most important surrogate is Former President Trump. Trump recently spoke in Texas “’in support of his unprecedented effort to advance the MAGA agenda by energizing voters and highlighting the slate of 33-0 Trump Endorsed America First candidates in the Great State of Texas’” (Texas Tribune).
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AnonymousOctober 25, 2022 at 12:08 PM
William Dean
Rubio’s fundraising efforts have been successful for three main reasons. First, he is an incumbent Senator, which lends him credibility and the facilities which that office has to offer. Second, the Republican National Committee is aiming to turn Florida from a swing state into a reliably red state, leading to a boon in party funding. And third, key endorsements from figures popular in Florida have increased Rubio’s visibility.
Along the first line, incumbency offers many advantages. Incumbent Presidents almost exclusively use their trademark white-and-blue Boeing VC-25 to travel, as it is a large, physical symbol of power that can drum up support. While Senators do not have a plane at their disposal, their office does provide many advantages for them to exploit. With Rubio both the vice chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence, and a senior member on the Committee on Foreign Relations, he is a frequent TV pundit for when those issues are in the news. With the Russo-Ukraine war raging, both Committees are busy and Rubio has consequently seen much air time. The powers of incumbency are noticeable in Rubio’s campaign, where he ”slowly buil[t] a network of friends and business associates within [his] home district…” (Boatright).
Turning Florida into a second Texas is a wet dream for the RNC, as it would reliably add 29 electoral votes, two Senators, a governor and many Congressmen to their ranks. Florida has long been considered a swing state, but recent Republican successes with President Trump and Governors DeSantis and Scott have convinced the national party level that this dream might become a reality. Because of this possibility, RNC-backed PACs have thrown their weight behind Florida candidates this cycle. Consequently, Gov. DeSantis “has raised over $174 million,” more than any governor in history (Werschkul). Rubio has piggy-backed off this success, raising a personal record of $36.7 million this cycle according to OpenSecrets. While nowhere near DeSantis, it is more than double what he raised during his dual-candidacy for President and Senator in 2016.
The endorsement of his candidacy by Donald Trump is obviously a big help given how popular he is in Florida, but others play important roles as well. As the Rubio team has mentioned many times in class, his law and order campaign has paid dividends. Both the Florida Fraternal order of Police and the Florida Police Benevolent Association have endorsed Senator Rubio. This is particularly important when he is running against a former police chief of a major city in Florida. In fact, endorsements are the fundraising strategy that Rubio relies most heavily on. Thanks to these endorsements and funding of the National Republican Senatorial Coalition (and ostensibly Citizens United v. FEC), Rubio recently released a cutthroat ad saying that Demings had “turned [her] back on law enforcement” (NRSC).

NRSC. “ICYMI// NRSC, Sen. Marco Rubio Release Ad Highlighting Demings’ Failure to Support Law Enforcement.” NRSC, 19 July 2022, https://www.nrsc.org/press-releases/icymi-nrsc-sen-marco-rubio-release-ad-highlighting-demings-failure-to-support-law-enforcement-2022-07-19/.

Semiatin, Richard J., and Robert Boatright. “Chapter 2 Fundraising: Toward Donor-Centered Politics?” Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, CQ Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, 2021, pp. 12–26.
Werschkul, Ben. Florida’s Ron DeSantis Is on the Cusp of Raising More than Any Governor — Ever. 17 Sept. 2022, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/de-santis-is-on-the-cusp-of-raising-more-than-any-governor-105208789.html.

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AnonymousOctober 25, 2022 at 12:38 PM
Fundraising, endorsements, and surrogates are all incredibly important in modern campaigns. Simply put, running for office is expensive and fundraising helps pay for a large chunk of it. In the article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette titled, “Small Donors Give John Fetterman a Big Financial Lead Over Mehmet Oz In State’s Senate Race” the author Julian Routh explains the disparity in funding between Oz and Fetterman. Routh states that Fetterman raises a total of $9.9 million whereas, “Mr. Oz, the cardiothoracic surgeon and TV celebrity, brought in $1.1 million, closing the gap a bit by loaning his campaign another $2.2 million”. Although both sums of money are immense, there is a lot more that could be done with $9 million compared to $2 million.
Endorsements show the public that there are businesses, corporations, people that all believe in the candidate running by putting their money and trust into them. I think surrogates can be a little bit trickier when it comes to influencing a politicians’ campaign. For instance, some people might see former president Donald Trump backing Hershel Walker and think that’s great. It might even make this person want to vote for Walker more. However, there is another type of voter that might not love Trump and seeing him endorse Walker might deter him. The same goes for President Biden and those he is supporting. Like we discussed in class, a lot of the democratic politicians running are kind of avoiding Biden because of his low disapproval rating.
Celebrities have also become really popular in terms of backing politicians. I remember Katy Perry was incredibly supportive of Hillary Clinton, the same for Lady GAGA and President Biden. I think this is an incredibly good tactic in trying to capture the peoples vote. Today people are obsessed with celebrity and really identify with their values and beliefs. People share an emotional connection to singers and actors because we can relate to them through either their music or movies, etc.
My candidate, Raphael Warnock came under scrutiny a couple of months ago for the ways he was choosing to spend some of his campaign funds. An article from Politico states, “Sen Raphael Warnock used campaign money to cover legal expenses for a lawsuit relating to his time as a church minister”. This matter has been largely debated as to whether this was a proper use of campaign funds.
Regarding to Warnock’s endorsements and surrogates, he has been endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign and NARAL Pro-Choice America.
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AnonymousOctober 27, 2022 at 12:21 AM
Fundraising and endorsements are two crucial entities in running a successful and powerful campaign. Many campaigns gain their money through endorsements and collabing with brands that will help promote their campaign in stores, commercials, merchandise etc. Warnock raises most of his money with fundraisers, according to OpenSecrets.org he raised $86,000 with fundraisers alone. He has numerous contributors that have given his campaign funding such as Alphabet Inc., University of California, Emory University etc. It is important that Warnock establishes a good relationship with colleges because he needs those younger voters to vote for him. Having a great relationship with certain companies helps gain exposure to that company’s demographic and as a candidate you want every vote you can get. Also, when a candidate collaborates with a brand that someone loves then the person is more likely to look into them and support them. If a candidate is not behind a company that one supports and likes then sometimes their wants and needs will not be met by said candidate. For example, Donald Trump who is pro-life would not support Planned Parenthood because it does not align with his agenda. As found in The Persuasion Effects of Political Endorsements by Cherly Boudreau they state the importance of endorsements and how they can heavily persuade a consumer, “However, if citizens are unable to identify political candidates who share their policy views and ballot propositions that are in line with their interests, it is unlikely that the democratic process will yield outcomes that reflect citizens’ preferences.” (Bourdeau, 1) The quote supports that voters will lean towards brands and companies they trust and what aligns with the candidate. Candidates also need to recognize that the company they keep says a lot. People want to see if the company you keep around you is on brand and fitting as well as supportive of your ideologies and beliefs. In Campaigns on the Cutting Edge by Richard J. Semiatin “A candidate’s friend can, in turn, introduce him or her to their friends, hold fundraisers in their homes, or provide in-kind support.” (Semiatin, 13) . It is important that the friend’s these candidates meet are not only friends who can offer proper advice and support but who they can help for networking purposes. All in all, it is important that the people and companies that support a candidate are aligned and beneficially for the candidates campaign and personal character.
“Sen. Raphael Warnock - Campaign Finance Summary.” OpenSecrets, https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/raphael-warnock/summary?cid=N00046489.
Boudreau, Cheryl. The Persuasion Effects of Political Endorsements. https://www.democracy.uci.edu/newsevents/events/conference_files/boudreau_2016_politicalendorsements.pdf.

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