| | | | 5 things Beto O'Rourke's eye-popping fundraising reveals | | The news was splashy: Texas Democratic Senate nominee Beto O'Rourke raked in almost $7 million in the first three months of 2018 in his (still) uphill challenge against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. While O'Rourke's cash haul doesn't prove he's a sure-fire winner, it does reveal a few things about the race. Here are five.
1. Democratic donors hate Cruz: Sure, O'Rourke is young, personable and handsome. And, yes, Texas is a big state with lots and lots of donor money in it. But a good chunk of O'Rourke's cash is the result of donors -- inside and outside of Texas -- who simply want to make Cruz sweat.
2. O'Rourke has a much higher $$$ ceiling: The $6.7 million O'Rourke raised between January 1 and March 31 came from 141,000 donations. Some simple back-of-the-envelope math means that the average contribution was around $50. (Obviously that's a broad estimate, not a hard-and-fast number.) What it means is that O'Rourke should be able to go back to lots and lots of his donors and ask for more. (The contribution limit for an individual is $2,700 for the primary and another $2,700 for the general election.) The more he looks like he can be truly competitive, the easier that ask becomes.
3. PAC money is overrated: When O'Rourke announced his candidacy, he pledged not to accept any donations from political action committees -- a move aimed at proving he wasn't part of the DC swamp. Most independent observers crushed him for that decision, insisting that the residual benefits he would get from being able to cast himself as un-owned by the permanent political class would be overshadowed by how much money he would be sacrificing. (Cruz has raised north of $580,000 from PACs.) Turns out that O'Rourke hasn't needed PAC cash at all.
4. O'Rourke isn't a creation of the national Democratic Party: O'Rourke announced his fundraising through March 31 via press release, but the actual report, which gives us a more detailed sense of where the money came from -- and how much of it he has left -- has yet to show up at the Federal Election Commission. As of that date, 49.99% of O'Rourke's donations came from inside of Texas, with the remainder from outside the state. That's a healthy split that suggests O'Rourke is not simply a creation of national Democrats, but has actual, on-the-ground support among Texans.
5. This is a real race: Make no mistake -- Cruz is still the favorite here. Texas remains a Republican state and, despite what is expected to be a very good year for Democrats nationally, any credible GOPer starts with an edge over a Democrat in this state. That said, O'Rourke's fundraising will allow him to build a real voter identification and turnout effort statewide, as well as battle Cruz on the TV airwaves. That doesn't guarantee victory. But it almost always ensures competitiveness.
Read my full take here.
-- Chris | | PROBLEMS FOR PRUITT CONTINUE | | Speaking of Scott Pruitt... on Tuesday, two House Republicans called for the ousting of the embattled EPA administrator. From CNN's Ashley Killough and Boris Sanchez: "Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida tweeted it's 'time for him to resign or for @POTUS to dismiss him.' Curbelo, who represents part of South Florida, is running for re-election in one of the most competitive districts in the country and has been critical of President Donald Trump and his administration in the past. Shortly after Curbelo's statement was tweeted, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen told CNN she supports his message."
Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress want more answers, CNN's Daniella Diaz reports. "Democrats in Congress are requesting information on at least three issues they're criticizing his handling of, at the same time the White House says it's 'looking into' Pruitt's housing decisions. In a letter to House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy, Democratic Reps. Elijah Cummings and Raja Krishnamoorthi requested Gowdy hold a hearing on the Cabinet secretaries' travel -- citing Pruitt among several high ranking officials who've been criticized for travel costs. The letter referenced documents disclosed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington that found Pruitt took a flight to Italy to the G-7 summit that cost taxpayers more than $120,000."
Read more about the lawmaker backlash here; and read CNN's story about how Pruitt tension has led to Cabinet shuffle déjà vu. | | | In the last two years (or so), Chris has become a devotee of music without words. In that vein, this new offering from cellist Clarice Jensen is so damn beautiful. | | 'GUARDING OUR BORDER WITH THE MILITARY' | | CNN's Betsy Klein reported Tuesday: "President Donald Trump said he's calling on the military to guard the US-Mexico border until his long-promised border wall is complete."
"'I told Mexico, and I respect what they did, I said, look, your laws are very powerful, your laws are very strong. We have very bad laws for our border and we are going to be doing some things, I spoke with (Defense Secretary James) Mattis, we're going to do some things militarily. Until we can have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military. That's a big step,' Trump said during a luncheon with leaders of the Baltic states.
"This isn't the first time there's been talk of sending US troops to the border. Under President George W. Bush, a border deployment of the National Guard known as Operation Jump Start started in 2006 and lasted two years. The operation sent more than 6,000 troops to California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to repair secondary border fences, construct nearly 1,000 metal barriers and fly border protection agents by helicopter to intercept immigrants trying to enter illegally. In 2010, the Obama administration deployed National Guard troops as part of a border protection plan."
Read more here. | | CHINA'S MESSAGE TO THE UNITED STATES | | CNN Money's Daniel Shane reports: "China says it will respond to any new trade tariffs by the United States with measures of the same scale and intensity.
"The warning from China's ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, came after Beijing slapped tariffs on $3 billion worth of US exports, including fruit, pork and steel pipes. Those measures were in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum from China and other countries. But Trump has also announced plans to impose tariffs on about $50 billion worth of Chinese goods."
Read more here. | | FIRST PERSON SENTENCED IN MUELLER PROBE | | | From CNN's Katelyn Polantz: Alex van der Zwaan is the first person to be sentenced in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The Dutch lawyer is tied to former Trump deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates. He was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in jail and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine after admitting to lying to Mueller's team. Read more here. | | | Click on CNN Politics' Instagram story every Monday through Friday afternoon for more #content from Chris and Brenna Williams. | | | Thanks for reading! A reminder to tell others to subscribe, too! And send us a note with your thoughts about the newsletter. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | | | | |
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