A $4 Million Bonfire of GOP Donor Class Vanities
A $4 Million Bonfire of GOP Donor Class Vanities
Americans for Prosperity is sending a message to MAGA. A sad, pathetic, groveling message of weakness.
1. Joker
Last weekend I got an email from a buddy in Tennessee reporting that he’d gotten a door-knock from Americans for Prosperity pushing Nikki Haley. A couple days later, he received a fancy, high-gloss AFP mailer promoting Haley.
Let’s take a look at the creative:
This is part of AFP’s multi-million dollar push for Haley. Back in December they said they had put $4 million behind her. On January 31 we’ll get the report on how much they threw in after that.
I would very much like Nikki Haley to win the Republican presidential nomination. It would be good for America if she did. And I give AFP credit for at least taking her side and not fast-forwarding straight to a Trump endorsement.
But this? It’s a bad joke.
Let’s go down the numbers:
The Tennessee Republican primary is on March 5. By then, Nikki Haley will have been out of the race for at least two weeks.1
But let’s pretend that Haley does make it to the Tennessee primary on March 5. You know what’s going to happen then? She’s going to get slaughtered because Donald Trump currently leads her in Tennessee by . . . wait for it . . .
Not a typo. In Tennessee, it’s Trump at 70 percent, DeSantis 12 percent, and Haley 7 percent.
Tennessee delegates are awarded, by district, on a winner-take-all basis, where the winner gets over two-thirds of the vote. Meaning that Haley is unlikely to even be able to take delegates out of Tennessee.
Then there’s the AFP pitch for Haley: It could not possibly be more generic. She is a strong/new leader! With a positive vision! She has shiny teeth and excellent hair!
There is nothing in this pitch for Haley that makes an actual argument for her. Or an argument against the candidate who is beating her by—and again, I cannot emphasize this enough—63 points.
So tell me: What is the purpose of AFP’s campaign for Nikki Haley? They are setting money on fire. Kind of like the Joker in The Dark Knight.
As the third act opens, the Joker has arranged all of the mob’s money that he’s appropriated in a big pile. He brings the head of the Russian mob over to see it and then proceeds to light the pile on fire.
The Russian thinks he’s crazy.
As the cash burns, the Joker explains that it’s not about the money. It’s about sending a message.
I think that explains AFP’s “support” of Nikki Haley, too.
AFP is supporting Haley in the most flaccid, ineffectual way possible. You could probably design a stupider, less effective way to “help” her, but it would take some work.
So why are they doing it?
Because they’re sending a message. Two messages, actually.