Big money Democratic donors may give Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren the cold shoulder if she runs away with the 2020 nomination.
According to a report published Thursday by CNBC, Warren’s oppositional attitude toward Wall Street could leave her high and dry in what’s sure to be a costly and hotly-contested general election against President Donald Trump.
In recent weeks, CNBC spoke to several high-dollar Democratic donors and fundraisers in the business community and found that this opinion was becoming widely shared as Warren, an outspoken critic of big banks and corporations, gains momentum against Joe Biden in the 2020 race.
“You’re in a box because, you’re a Democrat and you’re thinking, ‘I want to help the party, but she’s going to hurt me, so I’m going to help President Trump,’” said a senior private equity executive who declined to be named.
The Massachusetts Senator has been warned that her proposed wealth tax, not to mention her plan to force equity firms to take on the pension obligations and debts of companies they acquired, could make it difficult for her to tap into any resources she might need. (RELATED: Elizabeth Warren Rolls Out A Tax Plan On The Super Wealthy)
Warren responded to that warning by suggesting that she believed that lack of Wall Street support to be a feature rather than a bug.
I’m Elizabeth Warren and I approve this message. https://t.co/2Ewkbm0ZwA
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) September 10, 2019
Warren has long touted her focus on grassroots support and has often traded high-dollar fundraisers for four-hour selfie-lines.
Senator Elizabeth Warren: “Yeah, I was there [on the selfie line] four hours, but I’ll tell you what: so was the last guy in line.” pic.twitter.com/YCs5xYV9vO
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) September 18, 2019
And while her strategy appears to be positively impacting the polls — Warren surpassed longtime frontrunner and former Vice President Joe Biden in the Des Moines Register poll for the first time last week — it may have a decidedly negative impact on her war chest.
For the first time, Elizabeth Warren leads the Des Moines Register poll
22% – Elizabeth Warren
20% – Joe Biden
11% – Bernie Sanders
9% – Pete Buttigieg
6% – Kamala Harris https://t.co/O56s7cQZoR— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) September 22, 2019
Another concern is the fact that if Warren can’t bring the big donors to the general election, the Democratic National Committee may not be prepared to help her over the line.
The DNC has struggled to keep donations flowing, raising $7.9 million in August compared to the Republican National Committee’s $23 million. Additionally, the RNC is sitting on a $53 million war chest while the DNC has $7.2 million in outstanding debt.