Hoping to put some political breathing space between herself and the rest of a crowded Democratic presidential field, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) says she won’t spend her time schmoozing with wealthy donors.
“That means no fancy receptions or big money fund-raisers only with people who can write the big checks,” Warren wrote in an e-mail to supporters on Monday. She previously rejected the common practice of taking campaign donations from political action committees (PACs).
In a series of follow-up tweets, she said her campaign “will be run on the principle of equal access for anybody who joins it.”
“Warren said she believed everyone who supported her campaign should have equal access to her as a candidate – whether they’re giving $1 or thousands of dollars,” reported the Boston Globe.
“Warren hasn’t held a fund-raiser since she announced an exploratory committee on New Year’s Eve,” the newspaper said, “even skipping that ritual when she traveled to California earlier this month for a rally.”
The Globe noted that California “has long functioned as an ATM for candidates,” observing that at major fund-raisers, “large individual donations … can add up to hundreds of millions of dollars.”
This does not mean Warren’s campaign will hold no fund-raisers at all, but her stand means significantly less money for advertising, travel and other expenses.
“Warren writes that she knows she’ll be ‘outraised’ by other candidates,” said the Globe, “but hopes to make up the difference in grass-roots support” that can be carried over to the general election campaign if she wins the nomination.
And the campaign clarified that this is just for the primaries, not the general election, should she be nominated.
