Bernie Sanders is running a truly unique campaign that relies upon an army of small donors and has a disdain for Super PACs that can receive unlimited donations anonymously. Despite operating a different kind of campaign, it is imperative that Bernie Sanders keeps pace with Hillary Clinton in fundraising. In the last half of 2015, Sanders has done just that, keeping alive the hopes of progressives, including many cannabis law reformers, that the Vermont Senator can mount a credible challenge to the Democratic frontrunner.
In the third quarter of 2015, Sanders raised $26 million to Clinton’s $28 million. In the last three months, the anti-establishment candidate raised $33 million while the former Secretary of State reportedly hauled in $37 million. Ben and Jerry should be happy with this result. The former First Lady also outraised her previous challenger, Barack Obama, in 2007. Notably, Sanders has raised more money than candidate Obama did in the final sixth months of their respective Democratic primary races against Hillary Clinton, even when adjusting for inflation. Also, Sanders has surpassed Obama’s record of the number of individual donors.
With about a month to go until votes start being counted in the early primary states, Sanders continues to see positive signs that the national media seems to underplay. National polling is much less important than polling in individual states and Iowa and New Hampshire have an outsized influence upon our electoral system. First-term Senator Barack Obama was losing to former First Lady Hillary Clinton by nearly 20 points nationally in December of 2007, but he was making serious gains in the early voting states.
Personally, I think that it is ridiculous that these two states have so much power, but that is the system we operate under. Of course, our political system benefits those with access to a lot of money, it does provide an avenue for underdog candidates, so long as those underdog candidates raise a lot of money and can compete financially with the establishment frontrunners.
The small voting populations of Iowa and New Hampshire allow for upstart campaigns to get their message out and those victories can change the political narrative. Obama’s candidacy was propelled forward by an Iowa victory, despite a setback in Iowa. Sanders is looking great in New Hampshire, defeating Clinton in most polls. Can he follow in Barack Obama’s footsteps by winning just one of the first two states? Possibly. But imagine if he can win both.
