Getting Donations from Your Rivals’ Donors: Democrats are Setting New Trends in US Politics

Winning political donations can be a mighty task for politicians, especially when they are in need of money to contest their next elections.

However, for Krysten Sinema, a US senator from the Democratic Party, it is not a problem at all.

Republican donors are donating money to the Sinema election campaign despite knowing that she belongs to the opposite caucus.

But the important aspect is to see the trend which is pervasive in US politics. Joe Manchin, another Democratic Senator, is also accepting big money from GOP donors.

The role of money in politics can become dirty at times, and GOP donations to Manchin and Sinema are a classic example in this regard.

Even donors who supported Donald Trump are now giving their money to two Democrats instead of Republicans.

Read More: A Practical Advice for Donors to Find Politicians to Donate 

Dirty, yet Lawful Money in Action in US Politics

Both of these senators are blocking Biden’s agenda combined and also resisting ending the filibuster.

In short, they are the Republicans’ only hope in the Democrat-controlled Senate. So, the GOP donors do not want to see them lose.

The donors are playing an intelligent game in the US elections right now.

Instead of supporting a lot of Republican Senators separately, they are mostly donating in favor of just two Democrats Senators because their ultimate goal is to have control of the Senate, either through Republicans or Democrats.

The donors also see this as a unique opportunity to extend their agenda without spending too much money.

Promoting Sinema and Manchin would require less money for each of them compared to supporting too many Republican Senators at the same time.

The trend is so dangerous that it can hijack the political setup of the United States.

It will not only encourage these two Senators to oppose the Democrats’ agenda more but can also attract some other centrist Democrats in opposing Biden’s agenda.

The social reconciliation bill negotiations are coming soon, and expecting optimism from Sinema and Manchin is out of the equation with them getting big money from pro-Republican elements.

The Federal Election Commission indicated that Joe Manchin received almost $400,000 from energy companies, a  massive amount of donation money which is completely in line with his vision about not going towards green energy.

This should not come as a surprise, as he is the man behind stopping Biden’s climate agenda in the social reconciliation package.

Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema are Democrats Senators but are getting donations from the GOP donors. No doubt why they promote Republicans agenda in the US Congress often.

Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema Giving an Alternate Choice to Global Donors

The donors are viewing Manchin and Sinema donations as an investment. They are helping them because both of them are assisting them in return to save money in the long run.

Without Manchema (the combination of Manchin and Sinema), energy companies will bear much loss in the form of government regulations and new taxes, so they cannot see both of them lose their elections.

For Manchin, opposing Biden’s climate agenda is a win-win situation now.

While on the one hand, he will continue drawing donations from anti-climate groups, on the other, he has millions of dollars invested in coal stocks that are bound to be doomed if he supports pro-climate plans.

All of these things increase the likelihood of politicians going the dirty route and negate the concept of ideological politics.

This is surely the negation of democracy as well, where the big money and not the public interests are driving the legislative choices.

Final Thoughts

But donors also have some lessons as well in the whole episode. As most of them have vested interests in election results, they can start seeing from alternate perspectives instead of always going with the flow.

By finding the politicians who support their agenda in other parties, donors can save big money while carrying forward their lobbies with full ambitions.