Significance of Q-1 Fundraising for Campaigns at this Point; Buttigieg Addresses Lack of Diversity Among His Supporters
DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: But look at who is right behind him, Andrew Yang, who was part of the CNN town hall here on Sunday, who I venture to say a lot of people say, who.</s>DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Right.</s>BASH: And look at how well he did.</s>CHALIAN: And what is so important to understand about this, so this is people who contributor less than $200, right. The key about small donors is that you can go back to them again and again and again. So if you look at this graphic, look at this graphic and from Kamala Harris on down, where you have more than half or 60 percent plus of your donors are big-dollar donors, if you get somebody to max out at $2,800, you got to find a new donor to replace that donor next quarter. Not true if 80 percent of your money is $200 or less. And you just keep e-mailing those same folks and say, click and donate, click and donate, $5, $10. It's a really --</s>BASH: And it also matters because I want to return to the Republicans about what is on the debate stage, or stages, right? This is an important criteria.</s>CHALIAN: This is a rule. So the DNC didn't want to do a poll. So you need 65,000 donors from 20 states to show grassroots fundraising ability and that is another way on to the debate stage.</s>BASH: So let's talk about the Republican side, which is one guy, Donald Trump.</s>BASH: So far, one guy. We'll talk about who raised money.</s>BASH: That's a fair point. He raised more than $30 million from January to March and he has more than $40 million in the campaign war chest. And I interviewed his campaign manager, Brad Parscale, last month, about how they are quietly building up while the Democrats fight one another. Watch this.</s>BRAD PARSCALE, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: It is much more efficient two years out to find a possible voter or donor. There are so much across the social network and capability to find somebody who is a prospect. I think that is a considerable advantage and getting that -- if we could get to 40 million, 50 million, 60 million prospects and that will generate millions of dollars in donations to spend in advertising and gives you direct contact via phone or text message or email. It is a considerable advantage that the other side won't have because you can't replace time. The fact is, when you build the army now, it gives you time and you only worry about activation and not trying to find them.</s>BASH: First of all, that was not July of 2017. Apologize. That was last month. What do you think about what he said in.</s>CHALIAN: Well, what Brad is saying that I think is so critical and we saw it play out somewhat in 2016 for the Trump campaign, they are expanding it now, not just using the small dollar donors, and that is it, it is your organization. It is your grassroots or groundswell of support out there. So to get them to donate in but to activate them to persuade friends to vote, that kind of a dedicated army of supporters is a huge advantage.</s>BASH: Because they are building not just donors but building people who could be volunteers, could be activists or all of the above.</s>CHALIAN: Yes.</s>BASH: So before we go, let's talk about Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. He admitted when he was in a campaign event in New York last night that he doesn't have a very diverse crowd or any crowds who come to his events. He talked about that and then asked about it this morning on "NEW DAY." Listen.</s>PETE BUTTIGIEG, (D), SOUTH BEND MAYOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I could talk until I'm blue in the face about how important that our campaign or base of supporters in the future administration reflect this country. We are very conscious and intense on building the most diverse possible base of supporters from every level, from the committee to the people who fill a room to help lift us up. I think we need to do better. As I've been on the trail, we found, to some extent, it depends on geography. And we had a diverse crowd in Nevada but less so in South Carolina. One of the most important things you could achieve in South Carolina is engage with African- American voters, in particular, which represent such an important part of our party's coalition.</s>BASH: This is so interesting. First of all, the fact that he's in the game enough that this is something that matters, who is showing up and not if anybody is showing up. It is a big deal, right.</s>CHALIAN: Yes.</s>BASH: But it does matter. As he said, so spot on and in a spot-on way, places like South Carolina that any candidate needs to win, you do need to tap into the African-American --</s>CHALIAN: It's not just South Carolina. It is the Democratic Party nomination.</s>BASH: Yes.</s>CHALIAN: You can't become the Democratic Party nominee if you do not have a significant support from non-white groups, specifically African-Americans. And by the way, that video from him in Brooklyn last night, that question came from a member of the crowd, who said, look around here, should we be a little concerned that everyone here is white? Pete Buttigieg points out that south bend is 45 percent nonwhite. So he comes from a diverse city. But this is going to be a challenge for him. He's running against some African-American candidates and Latino candidates and there's diversity in the field. He'll have to find a way to diversify his coalition.</s>BASH: So fascinating. David Chalian, always good to talk to you.</s>BASH: I could go for hours and hours and hours.</s>BASH: We'll do that in your office later.</s>CHALIAN: OK.</s>BASH: Up next, she was a U.S. soldier and she was killed in Afghanistan and now her husband is back in the U.S. after being deported by ICE. There's an important back story here. That is next. Plus, Michelle Obama, she likened America under President Trump to living with a, quote, "divorced dad." We're going to talk about that later.