Centrist Dem Donors Bounced After Primaries

A crypto bro made big promises to back the democrats this election year with anywhere between $100 million and $1 billion.

In a shocking departure from the normally honorable and above-board behavior of crypto bros, he seems to have ghosted them. He is either incapable or unwilling to follow through on his vague implications.

Granted, he seem to just be riffing when he made his promise of huge piles of cash for Democratic candidates. This did not seem to deter NAncy Pelosi or any of the party "leadership"

Quote:

Protect Our Future PAC announced its campaign season in earnest by pouring money into a low-stakes primary in Oregon’s 6th district, backing a candidate with no political experience named Carrick Flynn who had a background in pandemic preparedness and, like Bankman-Fried, is connected to the effective altruism movement. The group spent over $11 million, immediately making the race one of the most expensive in the country. Nancy’s Pelosi’s House Majority PAC then took the rare step of throwing in $1 million of its own to support Flynn. At the same time, Protect Our Future routed $6 million back to House Majority PAC, so Democrats effectively made $5 million in return for giving Flynn the seal of party approval.

Especially when it comes with the chance to stomp down on progressives.

Quote:

Still, as its name suggests, the House Majority PAC is supposed to help protect the Democrats’ House majority, and it is very uncommon for them to get in on primaries in blue districts. Its involvement in this race was widely seen as a gesture of making-nice with Bankman-Fried and his crypto crew, a group that appeared poised to help bankroll much of the party. Aside from the money, Pelosi was likely heartened, too, by Protect Our Future’s penchant for often, but not always, supporting moderate candidates over more progressive ones.

And not only has crypto bro up and disappeared, so have a bunch of other big money PACs that showed up to sink progressives in the primaries.

Quote:

While many of the party’s individual candidates have been able fundraisers, independent expenditure groups affiliated with congressional Democrats have lagged behind their Republican counterparts. For example, the Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC associated with top House Republican Kevin McCarthy, has raised $220 million this cycle, outpacing Democrats’ House Majority PAC by $86 million. Those super PACs can provide decisive support for candidates, especially if they are in tossup districts or short of funds, often by buying expensive air time in the final weeks before election day.

And it's screwing Democrats not just in races to flip seats, but also in defending seats they currently hold.

Quote:

Leaving aside the money it wasted on primary losers, Protect Our Future’s disappearing act has left Bankman-Fried’s winners in a pinch as well. Some of the candidates he pushed through their primaries, such as Francis Conole in New York and Michelle Vallejo in Texas, are now cash-starved in their contests with Republicans, and have become the responsibility of other Democratic and progressive groups to drag across the finish line. Meanwhile, Democratic groups are bailing on a number of winnable races because of money shortages. They aren’t airing TV ads in six of the 14 Republican-held districts that went for Biden in 2020, which represent the biggest pickup opportunities for the party’s five-seat House majority. They’ve also cut bait on close contests involving Democratic incumbents in Arizona, Wisconsin, Texas, and Michigan. “The No. 1 factor here is money,” Tim Persico, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told Politico.

And, as I mentioned above, it just crypto bro who spent money on Democratic primaries to push centrists and have now stopped spending

Quote:

United Democracy Project, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC, spent tens of millions in Democratic primaries, often opposing progressives. Their only foray into general election spending has been two ad buys totaling $200k in a Democrat-on-Democrat race in California, boosting Kevin Mullin and opposing David Canepa. Democratic Majority for Israel, another multimillion spender closely allied with those Israel lobby groups, has also gone quiet in the general, despite having “Democratic majority” in the name. In response to an email query asking both how much the super PAC has spent and how much it intends to spend on behalf of the 85 general election candidates it endorsed, Communications & Development Manager Jake McClory said, “Yes, DMFI PAC is spending in the general election. We don’t discuss our independent expenditures until after they happen.” But recent FEC filings, covering the period through the end of September, show the group has not spent any money since New York state’s Democratic primary in August. A third multimillion dollar spender, Mainstream Democrats PAC, also shows no ad buys since primary season ended.

It's almost like they would prefer to lose with a moderate than win with a progressive. I wonder why that is. It certainly couldn't be that centrist Democrats vs Republicans is 6 of one, half dozen of the other to these big donors.

I wish I could laugh about this. I really wish I could. I generally don't like to say "I told you so", but this would have been cathartic.

But, there's too much at stake. And because of the "moderates" getting played, our country may be ****** for generations to come.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/hcWSLDZ