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Promoted from the diaries by streiff. Promotion does not imply endorsement.
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Photo by 401kcalculator via Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6848823919/).

How can you tell when the cast of announced Democrat candidates doesn’t excite the big money bundlers? Easy. They withhold their money until someone they want enters the 2020 race.

And it appears that some of the big donors won’t part with their money until the person they want to run enters the race: Former VA Governor Terry McAuliffe.

McAuliffe has deep ties to the Democratic donor community after years of raising money for Bill and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and his two campaigns for governor of Virginia. He has publicly said he will decide whether to run for president in the next month, but as he waits, a number of prolific Democratic donors are sitting on the sidelines.

The group includes Robert Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television; longtime Democratic donor and former Ambassador to Portugal Elizabeth Frawley Bagley; and Chris Korge, a prolific donor to the Clintons and the co-chair of Miami Beach’s 2020 convention efforts.

“I did give a contribution to Kamala Harris, but when I gave it to her, I told her, ‘If McAuliffe jumps in, I am supporting him,'” Korge told CNN. “I have made it clear to her, as well as every other person who has approached me, including five or six of them running, that if McAuliffe runs, I am supporting him.”

Korge was echoed by John Morgan, the Florida-based attorney and donor who recently announced he was leaving the Democratic Party because he was disillusioned by the leftward shift of Democrats. Morgan has known McAuliffe since the early 1990s.

Just last month, he told Jake Tapper on CNN’s SOTU, that he’d like to run and will decide by March 31. Tapper pressed him on his recent likelihood of running 50/50 remark:

McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, earlier this month said there was a 50 percent chance he would run.

Host Jake Tapper pressed McAuliffe on whether the odds are still 50/50.

“I’d like to do it. I think we had a great track record in Virginia,” he said.

Interestingly, in that same interview, he said he called Gov. Northam to step down after the blackface yearbook revelation and it was one of the hardest calls he ever had to make. Of course Northam was his Lt. Governor and his hand-picked successor that won with McAuliffe’s help.

When (and if) he announces his 2020 bid, there’s no doubt that he will instantly be considered a top-tier candidate. And of course, he already has the obligatory super PAC that was started last October: 

A new super PAC aimed at encouraging former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) to run for president in 2020 was launched Tuesday , according to the Associated Press.

The PAC is called “Tenaciously Moving for American Change in 2020,” named after McAuliffe’s “TMac” nickname, according to the AP.

Shannon Kane, a co-founder of the PAC, told the AP that the PAC is focused on increasing the ex-Virginia governor’s profile among voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, two key states with early votes in the primaries.

McAuliffe has many positive and negatives that primary voters will have to weigh. He is a prolific fundraiser and will be most likely be able to outraise everyone in the field, easily, including Breadline Bernie and Falso Beto.

Many of the existing candidates have already declared they won’t take money from wealthy donors or PACs. McAuliffe won’t decline those big donor dollars and it’s sure to be his foremost advantage in the growing field of candidates (or disadvantage in the SJW’s eyes). 

His biggest disadvantages will undoubtedly be his close ties to Clinton, Inc. and the Big Democratic Establishment. There is no escaping that and given the temperature of the new radical wing of their Party, his past may haunt him more than his money can overcome.

He was chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005, was co-chair of President Bill Clinton‘s 1996 re-election campaign and 1997 Presidential inauguration,^[2] and was chair of Hillary Clinton‘s 2008 presidential campaign.

And if the Democrats think they can impeach Trump over his past business dealings, then does the same apply to McAuliffe? Also from Wikipedia so no telling if it’s all true, emphasis mine:

McAuliffe told The New York Times in 1999, “I’ve met all of my business contacts through politics. It’s all interrelated.” When he meets a new business contact, he continued, “Then I raise money from them.”^[14] He acknowledged that success of his business dealings stemmed partly from his relationship with Bill Clinton, saying, “No question, that’s a piece of it.” He also credited his ties to former congressmen Dick Gephardt and Tony Coelho, his Rolodex of 5,000-plus names, and his ability to personally relate to people.^[14] In 2004, he was one of the five-member board of directors of the Clinton Foundation.^[36] He told New York Times reporter Mark Leibovich in 2012 that his Rolodex held 18,632 names.^[37]

Here’s what I think is happening behind the scenes. McAuliffe might be  waiting for Hillary and Biden to make up their minds (it’s her/his turn syndrome), yet he said he wasn’t on CBS’ Face The Nation last month:

I have made hundreds and hundreds of calls across the country, talked to potential staff and, listen, we’re close to making a decision,” McAuliffe said Sunday on “Face the Nation.”

Asked whether he was waiting for former Vice President Joe Biden to make his own decision on 2020, McAuliffe said he isn’t, but said he “wants to see where the field is”.

And of course, Hillary said she wasn’t running before she is running and just waiting for the Mueller report. But there is no way McAuliffe would announce a run against his best bud if Hillary declares she’s running a third time.

All of this waiting for the next one’s turn is nauseating and reminds me of 2016. Recall that no Democrat threw their name in the hat until the anointed one made finally made her intentions clear on April 15, 2015, which is very late by today’s standard. And then, only five other Democrats daringly  declared their candidacies.

That was selfish of HRC then and now. Far be it from me to complain about her though. Terry McAuliffe may be the Democrats best chance of beating Trump as he seems sane (comparatively) and is an experienced governor and business man.  

So I hope McAuliffe is waiting to exhale until Hillary makes up her mind and I hope she takes her sweet time….bless her little heart.