“Alexandria is one of the most heavily targeted Democrats in Congress,” begins a Facebook solicitation for donations from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s reelection campaign, “with right-wing outlets like Fox News spending countless hours trying to stoke outrage about her policy agenda, and new opponents already jumping into the race to unseat her in 2022.”
The ad goes on to explain that Ocasio-Cortez is funded by “grassroots donors” who give an average of $17.09, and encourages people to give through ActBlue. This kind of appeal is standard fare for any online fundraising campaign. But the implication that the “heavily targeted” New York congresswoman is in danger is false. AOC occupies one of the safest Democratic districts in the country. Republican donors may spend a lot of money against her, as they did last cycle, but that’s because the GOP’s fixation on her drives conservatives to do stupid, irrational things. Ocasio-Cortez is in a powerful position, money-wise. Why does her campaign pretend otherwise? And how should donors react to such pleas?
Misleading appeals
This sort of alarmism is a common note for fundraising appeals, to the extent that it’s become something of a cliche. In the argot of emails from the Democratic National Committee and other party organs, democracy is always in DANGER, and your donation is always URGENTLY needed. “Republicans are looking for weaknesses wherever they can find them to take back our House majority,” read a recent warning from California Rep. Adam Schiff’s campaign.
At the extreme end of the alarmism spectrum, fundraising operations can use deceptive appeals to fool people into contributing more than they meant to. (Out-and-out deception appears to be more common on the right side of the spectrum.) But nearly every campaign shades the truth to get their donors’ adrenaline pumping. Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign (which did not return a request for comment) could argue that she is “targeted” by Republicans because of how often the right-wing media attacks her. But she’s clearly not a front-line Democrat at risk of being defeated. Schiff is similarly technically correct that Republicans want to defeat Democrats like him.
But if the content of these appeals isn’t exactly dishonest, they nevertheless leave out a lot of important information. AOC, Schiff and many other candidates will emphasize the threat Republicans pose—but they won’t properly explain what your donation will do to stop that threat. Donors may think that donating to a famous Democratic politician will help the entire party, but more often than not, they are being misled.
A fundraising superstar
Consider the case of Ocasio-Cortez. She’s built out an incredible online fundraising operation that attracts small donors, with nearly 80% of her $21 million haul in 2020 coming from gifts of under $200, according to OpenSecrets. (Presumably, a lot of those donors give online.) She got over 70% of the vote in both the primary and general elections and hardly needed that much money to accomplish it, ending with more than $4 million in cash on hand. Unlike some other top congressional fundraisers (like Schiff), she does not make large contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and though she did distribute some money to left-wing congressional candidates and at-risk members, giving to others isn’t a major part of what she does. One explanation for her robust buckraking operation is that she may want to run for Senate, but that’s not her appeal to donors—the appeal is that if you like Ocasio-Cortez, you should show your support by donating, or maybe buying some of her merch.
What’s left unsaid is that Ocasio-Cortez is flush with cash and not facing any serious challenges. Therefore, there are lots of better places for donors to spend their money. If you are concerned about defending the Democratic majority in Congress, you could donate to front-line members (here’s a list compiled by the DCCC). If you want to defeat centrist Democrats, a major goal of Ocasio-Cortez’s, you can donate to left-wing candidates directly. (Justice Democrats has a list of primary candidates it has endorsed.)
Hardwired incentives
It would be nice if campaigns were more honest about how badly they need money. Ocasio-Cortez really doesn’t depend on your small donations. But this is probably expecting a lot from campaigns, which are hardwired to get as much money as possible.
Donors should realize that even politicians they personally like can be cynical when it comes to fundraising, and that no one is above shading the truth a little. Everyone exaggerates how badly they need money, and what that money will be used for. And when representatives in safe seats get money, they mostly use it to win elections they were going to win anyway. Ocasio-Cortez wants your money, but that doesn’t mean it’s a smart idea to give it to her.