How Democratic consultants, committees, and party leaders built a fundraising spam pipeline that funnels money from a captive pool of elderly donors into their own operations.
This is a terrific article. Democratic Party leaders need to step up to stop the extraordinary damage done to the party by the fundraising tactics Adam describes. In addition to the problem with Spam,,gross inefficiency, and taking advantage of seniors, there is a complete lack of accountability. PACs are only required to report to the FEC who is their treasurer, who is often someone from a compliance firm that only files the FEC reports. There is no requirement of disclosure of the people who started the PAC, or who is leading the PAC and making decisions about its fundraising and spending. So there is a complete lack of accountability, despite the legal concept that all federal political spending must be reported to the FEC. Legislation to require PAC initiators and decision-makers to be disclosed should be a Democratic Party priority. In addition, the DNC and candidates should adopt a strong fundraising Code of Conduct that vendors and consultants are required to follow as a condition of being hired. With the money that is currently being siphoned off by fundraisers and consultants, we could throw MAGA out of power for good.
Do Democrats in office even want to secure power and toss out MAGA, though? Seems to me that the Trump admin and tight majorities in the House and Senate increase the urgency of donor appeals, and thereby secure more for Democratic office holder allies and general selectorate.
Thank you for documenting what we've all been experiencing. It's condescending, exploitative, and does NOT build the kind of political solidarity we need in these fraught times.
Could you please recommend specific actions we should take (including specific language we can use) to hold the party accountable for this and demand change?
- if you want to be certain your hard-earned money is going to the campaign or cause you value, go to oath.vote. The proprietary software that gives you an impact score. Oath.vote is for Democrats, not Republicans.
- donate directly to the candidate or campaign
- if you feel like you’ve been scammed, let us know at Scambusters.us. We will research it, write a profile and share it with the Attorney General of the state if it is deemed a scam.
Get visibly active in supporting Democratic candidates. Show them votes are more important than donor dollars. Go to their campaign appearances and demand change.
I too am a devoted, lifelong Democrat. I no longer make any donations to PACs unless I have a personal connection with them. Instead, I donate directly to candidates’ campaigns.
100% agree: "but I’m also a lifelong Democrat. I believe my party is doing itself a disservice by following Republicans down this dark path. Winning back the House this year on the back of Donald Trump’s unpopularity would not be enough. We need a party capable of sustaining a durable majority to force authoritarianism into permanent retreat, a party that commands genuine enthusiasm and broad public trust. This fundraising model is not the way to build it."
I have stopped donating because only 20 million going to candidates of 390 million raised is unacceptable for sustainability of any democracy. Shame on them.
I make up for it by going directly to the candidates web site and donate 'hard money' they don't have to split with anyone. The only regret I've had is donating to now Senator Fetterman...sometimes a 'Democrat, no-matter-who' is still a looser vote because of this terrible fundraising mentality. (Yes, I know the other person wouldn't have been any better--but at least we'd be able to get rid of him now, we already had lost the Senate).
Thank you for having the courage to publish this anyway. It's a shame that the same BROKEN system that facilitated Trump coming to power is insisting on dooming us all by it's refusal to change--all for the sake of a few fat cats lining their pockets.
I hope you post goes viral in a good way: My favorite candidates don't take PAC money. Look at NJ07 Congressional Race...it's a good template.
Republicans are just as bad, contribute for chance to be in Trumps inner circle of advisers, come on not going to happen. The gullible are everywhere. I’m 77 and know how to delete messages.
Thank you. I noticed this trend some time ago. And yes, the Democratic Party three fundraising arms lost me due to their inability to crack down on these scams. I’m infuriated that the elderly are once again top scam victims. I also left the Democrat party. They do not represent We the People. While they might not be outright criminal thugs like the Republican Party, they’ve enabled and emboldened R’s by their unwillingness to holds any of the criminals to account.
Really important and disturbing piece on consultants, candidates and national leaders burning the future for quick immediate gain. It’s good to know that DNC chair Ken Martin and act blue have been trying to stop it, but it’s going to take all of us pressuring other party leaders as well as to donating to these spam pacs. Also seems worth people pressuring the times and bulwark to run some version of the piece or cover the issue otherwise
Paul, you can restack this piece and add a note - "The Bulwark should run some version of this piece or cover the issue otherwise". Use the restack icon under the date at the top of this newsletter.
Excellent article, and shame on both publications that dropped it out of cowardice--there was no legitimate legal liability for them, so this looks like the worst kind of favor currying.
Speaking from my own experience as a young-ish (30s) Democratic small donor, emails and texts have become a completely useless signal when it comes to determining who I should donate to. Not only are they all full of the overwrought, schlocky language you describe, but there's also basically no correlation at all between the solicitations I get and the optimal recipients. I'm as likely to get these garbage emails and texts from candidates making pure vanity runs or in completely safe seats as I am to get them from candidates who are in close, important races.
Luckily for me I follow politics closely and know that donating to people like Jordan Wood is a fancy means of lighting your money on fire, but I've long felt that there must be some number of people who take seriously the content of these solicitations. What a shame that you need to be somewhat savvy to know people you're supposed to be able to trust are basically trying to scam you.
There's also the fact that the sheer number of these solicitations has rendered my primary personal email inbox nearly unusable, and the texts don't stop no matter how many times I reply "STOP."
It's sad, because you could imagine a world in which email lists are used for the purpose of actually helping people know which races are truly tight, where their dollar would go the furthest, etc. Instead everyone is just inundated with nonstop crap, such that they either tune it out entirely or are tricked into wasting boatloads of money. Both scenarios are bad.
This is a terrific article. Democratic Party leaders need to step up to stop the extraordinary damage done to the party by the fundraising tactics Adam describes. In addition to the problem with Spam,,gross inefficiency, and taking advantage of seniors, there is a complete lack of accountability. PACs are only required to report to the FEC who is their treasurer, who is often someone from a compliance firm that only files the FEC reports. There is no requirement of disclosure of the people who started the PAC, or who is leading the PAC and making decisions about its fundraising and spending. So there is a complete lack of accountability, despite the legal concept that all federal political spending must be reported to the FEC. Legislation to require PAC initiators and decision-makers to be disclosed should be a Democratic Party priority. In addition, the DNC and candidates should adopt a strong fundraising Code of Conduct that vendors and consultants are required to follow as a condition of being hired. With the money that is currently being siphoned off by fundraisers and consultants, we could throw MAGA out of power for good.
Do Democrats in office even want to secure power and toss out MAGA, though? Seems to me that the Trump admin and tight majorities in the House and Senate increase the urgency of donor appeals, and thereby secure more for Democratic office holder allies and general selectorate.
We need to show them the voters are more important than the donors in winning. That requires us Democrats to get active.
Thank you for documenting what we've all been experiencing. It's condescending, exploitative, and does NOT build the kind of political solidarity we need in these fraught times.
Could you please recommend specific actions we should take (including specific language we can use) to hold the party accountable for this and demand change?
...because "STOP" and "END" are not getting the message across.
- if you want to be certain your hard-earned money is going to the campaign or cause you value, go to oath.vote. The proprietary software that gives you an impact score. Oath.vote is for Democrats, not Republicans.
- donate directly to the candidate or campaign
- if you feel like you’ve been scammed, let us know at Scambusters.us. We will research it, write a profile and share it with the Attorney General of the state if it is deemed a scam.
https://scambusters.us
- Scambusters.US also offers a free 1-hour class titled, Political Fundraising: Legal or a Scam? Check it out here:
https://scambusters.us
- contact your representative - legislation has been proposed but not moved forward, so make some noise.
- contactor your state Attorney General. The more people that report it the more they can do about it as well.
Get visibly active in supporting Democratic candidates. Show them votes are more important than donor dollars. Go to their campaign appearances and demand change.
I too am a devoted, lifelong Democrat. I no longer make any donations to PACs unless I have a personal connection with them. Instead, I donate directly to candidates’ campaigns.
100% agree: "but I’m also a lifelong Democrat. I believe my party is doing itself a disservice by following Republicans down this dark path. Winning back the House this year on the back of Donald Trump’s unpopularity would not be enough. We need a party capable of sustaining a durable majority to force authoritarianism into permanent retreat, a party that commands genuine enthusiasm and broad public trust. This fundraising model is not the way to build it."
I have stopped donating because only 20 million going to candidates of 390 million raised is unacceptable for sustainability of any democracy. Shame on them.
I make up for it by going directly to the candidates web site and donate 'hard money' they don't have to split with anyone. The only regret I've had is donating to now Senator Fetterman...sometimes a 'Democrat, no-matter-who' is still a looser vote because of this terrible fundraising mentality. (Yes, I know the other person wouldn't have been any better--but at least we'd be able to get rid of him now, we already had lost the Senate).
Thank you for having the courage to publish this anyway. It's a shame that the same BROKEN system that facilitated Trump coming to power is insisting on dooming us all by it's refusal to change--all for the sake of a few fat cats lining their pockets.
I hope you post goes viral in a good way: My favorite candidates don't take PAC money. Look at NJ07 Congressional Race...it's a good template.
Karen, you can help this piece go viral by clicking on the "restack" icon under the date at the top of the newsletter.
I did that!
Republicans are just as bad, contribute for chance to be in Trumps inner circle of advisers, come on not going to happen. The gullible are everywhere. I’m 77 and know how to delete messages.
Amazing work. We need a return to traditional strategies that depend on grassroots mobilization, in-person canvasing, and volunteer recruitment.
Agree. That IS happening. See swingleft.org.
Great piece. There are dozens of reasons to get money out of politics, this just reinforces how much of a problem it is.
Very meaty read but why not make it longer???
Basically, Citizens United needs to be repealed and any reformulation of similar legislation prevented.
How would repealing Citizens United affect this?
See Pete B: https://youtu.be/N9GxuCH-aSY?si=ZHWeHLJHtlYhDJeC
But Citizens United has nothing to do with raising money from individuals, which is the issue here.
Thank you. I noticed this trend some time ago. And yes, the Democratic Party three fundraising arms lost me due to their inability to crack down on these scams. I’m infuriated that the elderly are once again top scam victims. I also left the Democrat party. They do not represent We the People. While they might not be outright criminal thugs like the Republican Party, they’ve enabled and emboldened R’s by their unwillingness to holds any of the criminals to account.
I am very disappointed to hear that Elias defends these practices
Really important and disturbing piece on consultants, candidates and national leaders burning the future for quick immediate gain. It’s good to know that DNC chair Ken Martin and act blue have been trying to stop it, but it’s going to take all of us pressuring other party leaders as well as to donating to these spam pacs. Also seems worth people pressuring the times and bulwark to run some version of the piece or cover the issue otherwise
Paul, you can restack this piece and add a note - "The Bulwark should run some version of this piece or cover the issue otherwise". Use the restack icon under the date at the top of this newsletter.
Excellent article, and shame on both publications that dropped it out of cowardice--there was no legitimate legal liability for them, so this looks like the worst kind of favor currying.
Speaking from my own experience as a young-ish (30s) Democratic small donor, emails and texts have become a completely useless signal when it comes to determining who I should donate to. Not only are they all full of the overwrought, schlocky language you describe, but there's also basically no correlation at all between the solicitations I get and the optimal recipients. I'm as likely to get these garbage emails and texts from candidates making pure vanity runs or in completely safe seats as I am to get them from candidates who are in close, important races.
Luckily for me I follow politics closely and know that donating to people like Jordan Wood is a fancy means of lighting your money on fire, but I've long felt that there must be some number of people who take seriously the content of these solicitations. What a shame that you need to be somewhat savvy to know people you're supposed to be able to trust are basically trying to scam you.
There's also the fact that the sheer number of these solicitations has rendered my primary personal email inbox nearly unusable, and the texts don't stop no matter how many times I reply "STOP."
It's sad, because you could imagine a world in which email lists are used for the purpose of actually helping people know which races are truly tight, where their dollar would go the furthest, etc. Instead everyone is just inundated with nonstop crap, such that they either tune it out entirely or are tricked into wasting boatloads of money. Both scenarios are bad.
It's a good article and important - the missing note, is that Republican fund raising is much worse.
Please prepare a one page summary so more people could consume this vital info. Few people will read the exhaustive piece, Unfortunately
He represents the practitioners. Disappointing indeed.