Donald Trump is running a surprisingly cheapskate campaign
Billionaire Donald Trump may be proving that when it comes to presidential politics, money isn鈥檛 everything. If you鈥檙e a magnet for media attention, that is.
It鈥檚 true. Though pundits have long assailed the flow of a vast amount of dollars into United States politics, the current GOP poll leader is running a fairly cheap primary effort, according to just-filed .
Mr. Trump鈥檚 campaign raised about $19 million through the end of 2015, says this FEC data. In contrast, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has taken in about $47 million. Hillary Clinton has amassed a whopping $112 million.
Trump鈥檚 spending is positively parsimonious when measured against rivals. His operating expenses through December for the entire presidential cycle were about $12.1 million. Cruz鈥檚 were $28 million. Clinton spent $76 million.
A surprising percentage of Trump's spending goes on hats. He鈥檚 making the US ball cap industry great again, if nothing else. About $450,000, or 7 percent of his fourth-quarter spending, bought those signature retro 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� chapeaus.
That鈥檚 more money than the campaign paid its private voter data vendor, notes Politico鈥檚 Kenneth P. Vogel. It鈥檚 more money than it spent on strategic consulting.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost as much as the campaign spent on field consulting ($551,000) or payroll ($518,000),鈥� .
Let鈥檚 pause and let that sink in. Donald Trump is spending more money on cheesy giveaway hats than he is paying people to run his campaign, at least on paper. That鈥檚 a lean organization.
And most of it is his money. Over the past three months of 2015 he gave his campaign a $100,000 personal donation and lent it $10.8 million. In contrast, supporters donated $2.6 million.
Things might change with further FEC disclosures about Trump鈥檚 January financial activity. But for now his boasts about paying for his own campaign appear to be true.
鈥淒onald Trump is now doing what many doubted 鈥� investing his own funds in an increasingly organized national campaign,鈥� write .
Of course, the key here is that Trump has not needed to spend money to introduce himself to the American public. He started the campaign with over 90 percent name recognition in the US. Nor has he needed to spend money to promote his policies and positions.
His ability to grab the media鈥檚 attention with outrageous and sometimes offensive statements has kept the spotlight on Trump, Trump, always Trump. From his campaign announcement through mid-December he received 54 percent of all media coverage of the GOP primary, figures the .
He鈥檚 managed to keep upping his ante (if that鈥檚 possible), producing more and more provocative statements to continually keep the TV cameras on him.
Maybe he鈥檚 perfected an entirely new and efficient means of national campaigning. Expensive on-the-ground voter turnout efforts would be out, in this style. Maximal call-ins to Sunday news shows and "Fox & Friends" would be in.
Could another candidate duplicate this style, however? We鈥檇 doubt it. Plus, this is only the pre-game. Actual voting starts tonight, in Iowa. We鈥檙e about to find out how successful Trump鈥檚 style really is.
