Some links for Fall 2023 students to help with this semester's essay.
- Wikipedia - Invisible primary:
In the United States, the invisible primary, also known as the money primary, is the period between (1) the first well-known presidential candidates with strong political support networks showing interest in running for president and (2) demonstration of substantial public support by voters for them in primaries and caucuses. During the money primary candidates raise funds for the upcoming primary elections and attempt to garner support of political leaders and donors, as well as the party establishment. Fund raising numbers and opinion polls are used by the media to predict who the front runners for the nomination are. This is a crucial stage of a campaign for the presidency, as the initial frontrunners who raise the most money appear the strongest and will be able to raise even more money. On the other hand, members of the party establishment who find themselves losing the invisible primary, such as Mitt Romney in the 2016 race, may abandon hope of successfully running.
During the invisible primary appeals are made and meetings held with the political elite: party leaders, major donors, fundraisers, and political action committees. In contrast to the smoke-filled room where a small group of party-leaders might at the last minute, in a small meeting room at a political convention, determine the candidate, the invisible primary refers to the period of jockeying which precedes the first primaries and caucuses and even campaign announcements.
- Brookings Institute: Tracking the invisible primary: Money can’t buy a presidential nomination.
As the old saying goes, money can’t buy you love — and it turns out it can’t buy you a presidential nomination either. The 2020 race for the Democratic nomination is a case in point. The winner of the nomination, Joe Biden, spent less than his chief rival — $108 million compared to the $200 million expended by Sen. Bernie Sanders. And in the crucial month of February 2020 before Biden won in South Carolina and captured the nomination days later on Super Tuesday — Biden had less money on hand than all the other candidates who qualified for the debate stage — $12 million. The 2020 Democratic nomination race also featured two billionaires — Tom Steyer, who spent $341 million of his own money and Mike Bloomberg, who spent $1.1 billion of his own money, which yielded very few convention delegates for either individual.
. . . These caveats aside however, money is one of the easiest ways to judge how an individual candidate is doing in the invisible primary because the law requires candidates to report how much they raise and how much they spend each quarter after they have filed. And it’s fair to say that while having gobs of money may not matter — having “enough” money to get around and mount a campaign is critical.
So, let’s look at the 2024 field so far. . . .
