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By Bradley Vasoli
Bucks County Republicans’ prospects for regaining political power in 2023 looked promising, but Democrats won big owing largely to a vast fundraising advantage, according to a Broad + Liberty analysis of campaign finance records.
Republicans could catch up this year but only if they match the Democrats’ impressive midyear fundraising yield.
All told, the Democrats’ countywide campaign effort raked in nearly $595,000 more than the Republicans’ war chest during the 2023 election season. The gap between the two totals widens to over $858,000 when accounting for the money that all relevant county groups already had on hand from 2022.
Why It Matters. At first glance in 2024, it would seem Republicans won the money battle. The Bucks County Republican Committee (BCRC) raised an impressive $1,480,877.05 through November 27, 2023. The Bucks County Democratic Committee (BCDC) raised just $405,273.18 during that timespan (the start of the year through the last reporting period covering Election Day).
In reality, however, the Democrats’ county power structure was much larger owing to the fundraising prowess of Bucks United, a political action committee that took in $1.67 million during the 2023 campaign season. Registered in 2021 and headquartered in Langhorne, it has supported Democratic Bucks row-office hopefuls with media output and manpower.
That group spent copiously on campaign literature, video production, advertising airtime, online media, staff, and consultants of all kinds, including at least $4,000 on opposition research against Republican candidates.
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By Guy Ciarrocchi
Kamala Harris prefers the suburbs to Philadelphia. It might cost her Pennsylvania and the Presidency.
She certainly campaigns more in the suburbs than Philly, especially recently. Now, she is trotting across the “burbs” with her new best friend, “Republican” Liz Cheney.
Harris prefers to give speeches or to participate in staged, structured events with scripts, invited audiences and little to no engagement with voters. Even when she holds “town halls,” the audience isn’t allowed to ask questions. There are pre-selected topics “of interest,” as moderators explained to puzzled audience members.
Harris gets most passionate talking about Donald Trump, nationalizing unlimited abortion rights and ironically,“saving Democracy” — so says the candidate nominated without one primary voter voting for her.
Why It Matters. Whether it’s ignorance, arrogance, or that she is just more comfortable with suburban voters, it’s a huge risk so far. And, with less than two weeks, any last-minute campaign stops may be too little, too late.
As news is breaking about the “big concert” being planned in Philadelphia the week before the election, some free advice for Harris: The answer is not Bruce Springsteen. Not only did this fail for Hillary, but Bruce is the wrong messenger.
Worse for her cause, staged events and shows aren’t what actual middle class and working families want. They want their gas, groceries and electricity to be cheaper and they want to feel safe walking and shopping at night and allowing their kids to play. They want schools that work, and they want school choice to allow them to have that. Why won’t she talk with these voters? And actually listen to them?
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5. What we're reading
It’s tough to drop an October surprise on a candidate as well-known as Donald Trump. We already know what there is to know about him, the good, the bad, and the ugly. But, bless their hearts, the flacks at the Atlantic are going to try it anyway. This week at the Washington Examiner, David Harsanyi explains why the latest effort to publish an unsubstantiated (and suspiciously well-timed) rumor as fact will inevitably fail – and should diminish our trust in those who push the story.
"Now, we have two anonymous sources telling us that Trump refused to pay for the funeral of a murdered Army private,” Harsanyi writes. “By now, one hopes most people understand how the game works. Goldberg published a non-falsifiable October surprise. Other outlets, unlikely to run wholly uncorroborated claims themselves, can spread the smear without verification. They did this to Justice Brett Kavanaugh. They’re going to keep doing it.”
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