Despite his having bigger fish to fry, some of President Biden's "most loyal contributors and top fundraisers" are feeling neglected and ignored amid the ongoing pandemic, the chaos and lack of progress on Capitol Hill, and the foreboding results of Tuesday's off-year elections, The New York Times reports.
"There is a basic chorus, which is we're forgotten and discarded," one major Biden bundler told the Times. "It's very discouraging. We don't exist."
"There's no outreach whatsoever," added another. "Nonexistent," noted two more. "People feel hung out to dry," another explained.
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Though "donor grousing" is a tale as old as time, the "sheer breadth of complaints about the Biden White House's operation is striking," says the Times.
What's more, in at least one case, prominent donors have reportedly begun to withhold funds until progress is made on "substantive policy changes," including the passge of contentious voting rights legislation, which is unlikely to advance without filibuster reform. Specifically, hedge fund executive S. Donald Sussman, one of the "financial pillars of the Democratic ecosystem," has reportedly made clear "he is pausing his political giving" until a voting rights package moves forward, writes the Times.
Certain officials and allies worry that neglecting donors and bundlers now, combined with stalled voting legislation, could disrupt fundrasing efforts into next year and beyond. But others, including some donors themselves, have opted to let the president slide given the current state of affairs.
"They have an incredible list of priorities to fix," said Robert Wolf, a bundler for former President Barack Obama. "My view is the last thing that should be on anyone's mind should be the donor community."
"They took office with a national plague going on," added Democratic fundraiser and former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, claiming he and others were therefore "rational about giving them a pass."
