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Friend --
Hello Yang Gang – thank you for your support! It's been a little over a week since the debate in Detroit, and we've already qualified for the next round in September and October. We've already booked our travel to Houston!
As you know, the debate was a huge success. It was awesome. We raised over $500,000 from over 20,000 new donors in the 24 hours following the debate, so you know we struck a chord. Since then, we've raised nearly $1.6 million in merch and donations.
My favorite stat? Nearly 87% of our donors were first-time donors. I certainly appreciate all of you who have been with me since before the debates, but we have tens of thousands of new members of the Yang Gang! Welcome to the fight to put Humanity First!
Some reflections from the debate stage itself:
The evening was very regimented. The conversation on-stage might have seemed a little hectic, but the moderators had an idea of where the conversations would go based on paying attention to the campaigns ahead of the event. Telegraphed fights were given priority, downplaying candidates who didn't pick Twitter battles ahead of the debate.
Having now been with the other candidates a number of times, my relationships with them range from cordial to genuinely warm and friendly. We make small talk and commend each other during the breaks.
CNN’s staff was top-notch and their technical details/audio were best-in-class. I could hear myself and others. That stuff makes a huge difference.
Thank you for getting me up there and giving me the chance to make our case to millions. It is phenomenal to know that there are so many people who wanted me to do well, and to believe I delivered. Coming off the stage, I had hundreds of messages on my cell phone and via social media congratulating me. I talked to my family that night and they were excited. We did a victory lap with CNN later that night and the following day. My campaign team is thrilled for the road ahead.
When I first decided to run for President, I thought that we would have the chance to educate people on a few things. First, that we are in the midst of the greatest economic transformation in our country’s history. Second, that it is not immigrants, but technology and machines, that are moving more Americans to the sidelines. Third, that we need real solutions, like a Freedom Dividend of $1,000 a month, to help Americans thrive during this transition.
We began to convey these 3 ideas (along with our 100+ other policies) to many of our fellow Americans last week. But there is a massive gulf between having an issue bubble to the surface of a conversation and actually getting solutions across the finish line. We need to win to solve the problems.
One other takeaway I had from debate night – I can 100% compete with and beat the other candidates in this race. I’d known it from prior meetings and cattle calls where we’d each do our thing in front of a crowd in South Carolina or Iowa. You get a sense of your capacities relative to other people. But doing it on the debate stage was another level.
We can win.
Our sense of the problems is better, our ideas are fresher, and we are free of the constraints that limit what politicians can say or do. They are predictable in a way that we are not. We will continue to grow and get stronger and peak at the right time.
Somehow, even though we were seen by millions last week, they will never see us coming.
Thank you for giving us the chance to make history. Let’s win.
Already pumped for the next debate,
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