NY Mag: How the Flood of Democratic Fundraising Since Ginsburg’s Death Is Changing the Senate Landscape

I spoke to Ben Jacobs for his New York Magazine piece on the Democratic fundraising explosion in the wake of RBG’s passing, and what–if anything–it means for November.

However, with voting already started in a number of states and with just over six weeks left, there are limits to what can be done. Liam Donovan, a veteran Republican strategist, told Intelligencerthat the impact was limited in most competitive races where campaigns were already amply funded. Instead, Donovan argued that this served as “a quantifiable metric of intensity” as well as a coping mechanism for liberal donors. As he put it: “What it says to me is they feel profoundly out of control, and what better way to get a sense of control by investing in these races; that’s what Democrats are harnessing. These guys are desperate for a way to assert some kind of control on a completely chaotic 2020 — to the tune of a cool $100 million.”

Read the full piece here.

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NYT: How Cash-Card Idea Derailed White House Drug-Price Deal

I spoke to Jonathan Martin of the New York Times about a major prescription drug deal between the Trump Administration and the pharmaceutical industry that fell apart over late White House demands for “Trump Cards” that would be distributed to seniors in the home stretch of the campaign. Given the way things are going with the campaign, it’s no surprise that they’re passing up first downs and shooting for the end zone.

Even more puzzling is why the White House would not have taken a victory in hand that would have let the president extol his negotiating skills and crow about delivering for seniors.

Instead, they unveiled an executive order on a weekend that drew little coverage and is far harder for people to grasp than industry-subsidized cost relief for consumers.

“It’s objectively imprudent,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist. “But when you need to change the trajectory of the race, you have to be willing to take risks.’’

Click here to read the full piece.

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MW: One way to end coronavirus aid standoff? Add parts of a deal to stopgap funding bill

I spoke to Jonathan Nicholson of MarketWatch about the prospects for a Congressional Covid response deal before the election.

“Both sides appear perfectly content to head into the election thinking that the politics hurts the other side worse. Realistically, the best hope going forward is that a handful of these consensus provisions might be cherry-picked and incorporated into a clean-ish CR,” wrote Liam Donovan, principal at Bracewell LLP’s Policy Resolution Group ina note to clients.

But Donovan said in email the odds remain low, “maybe 25%.”

On the other hand, another round of $1,200 stimulus checks, reviving the federal add-on to state unemployment benefits, and bringing back the Paycheck Protection Program, which has $134 billion in unused lending authority, all have bipartisan support among Congress’ rank-and-file members.

“If you can’t figure out how to turn PPP back on with $100 billion just sitting there and bipartisan consensus, they have a lot of soul searching to do!” Donovan said.

Read the full piece here.

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