maintain the impression that he will be running. it is a way to free the field for future democratic nominees like pete buttigieg, like you mentioned for kamala harris. it is also important that as a president he doesn t appear to be a lame duck. now some donors that i ve spoken to major democratic donors say they don t feel the same donor maintenance you would get from a sitting president up for a second term. inviting them to the white house for meetings. checking up with them on calls. offering them political appointments. if you are up for reelection you want to make sure your donors are happy. his poll numbers are low right now and a question in the democratic party about who could run as a democratic nominee. benjamin: of course, you know, kamala harris would be next in line but she has low
the republicans, still, engage in donor maintenance. that s why they wouldn t raise taxes even on [ inaudible ] that pay zero taxes. they aren t going to go near that but that s not the base. those are the donors. yep. those are corporate overlords who keep them afloat in election cycles. you re right. they don t really have much to say about anything else. and although they opposed, 100%, the american rescue plan. again, on this kind of old-style thinking. as soon as it passed and became very, very, very popular, they started touting it, as you said. they couldn t say enough about good things about the restaurant revitalization program. they were telling their constituents to get out there and get the getting, when it s good. so, i think there is some schizophrenia on listen, they re not going to give up on deregulation because, again, that s their corporate overlords. they are not going to give up on tax cuts for the rich.
that s exactly right. the republicans still engage in donor maintenance. as why even they pay zero taxes. they aren t going to do that. that s not a base. those are the donors. corporate overlords to keep them afloat in election cycles. you are right, they don t really have much to say about anything else, and although they opposed 100% of the american rescue plan on this kind of old style thinking. as soon as it passed and became very popular, they started touting it, as you said. they couldn t say enough about the good things for a restaurant revitalization program. they were telling their constituents to get out there, getting the good. there is schizophrenia. they re not going to give up on deregulation because again that s their corporate
what really matters are not words, it s the actions. it s whether or not you re actually going to step up and say i m going to do my part to make sure that washington works for the people. not just for those who ve got money and power and exercise it right here in the halls of congress. do you think the republican caucus right now, what is your mental model of how they are orienting themselves? sheldon white house said something yesterday, interesting where he talked about donor maintenance was the phrase he used. yeah. basically they re right now like we need to deliver. we been doing this for nine months, and the people that fund our campaigns and fund the institutional republican party have basically seen nothing, is that you re understanding of what s going on there right now? absolutely. that is exactly my understanding, is the republican party and congress right now looks at this like a business. and they say gee, all these billionaires and zillionaires
something yesterday, interesting where he talked about donor maintenance was the phrase he used. yeah. basically they re right now like we need to deliver. we been doing this for nine months, and the people that fund our campaigns and fund the institutional republican party have basically seen nothing, is that you re understanding of what s going on there right now? absolutely. that is exactly my understanding, is the republican party and congress right now looks at this like a business. and they say gee, all these billionaires and zillionaires and giant corporations invested in us and they re demanding a return on their investment. and we better show them some return on their investment or they won t invest in the next election. that s how the game is rigged in washington. all of those families, all those veterans, all those active duty service members who said please keep the consumer financial protection bureau rule, please hang on to that rule because that rule gives me a cha