Warren says she quit high-dollar fundraisers because she wanted to 'do better'

[brooklynite]

The Hill

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said after clashing with fellow 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg at the last debate that she stopped holding high-dollar fundraisers because she wanted to "do better than that."

"I saw how this system works. And I decided when I got in the presidential race that I wanted to do better than that," she told reporters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Saturday night, according to CNN.

"And that's why I just quit doing it. I don't sell access to my time. I don't call high-dollar fundraisers. I'm out there raising money grassroots all across this country, because I want to move this in the right direction, we can't be a country that just keeps getting worse and worse,” she said.

“I think what's important is what direction are we taking this in, you know," she added. "I don't think the American people are looking for purity. I think they're looking for someone who's trying, trying to make this system better and that's what I'm doing."

Post-hoc justification. Perhaps instead of moralizing until she got tripped up by her own past behavior, she should have STARTED with this public message and called on other candidates to do likewise.

[TexasTowelie]

1. Warren had the advantage of being able to transfer millions of dollars

from her Senate campaign to her presidential campaign. That (along with her name recognition) provided her the luxury of taking a moral high ground. She shouldn't condemn others that did not have the same advantage to finance their campaigns.

Warren ran her campaign well initially, she showed patience while she built her campaign structure, and there are some great ideas. However, the last two months have been a disaster of unforced errors and own goals. There is still time for her to correct course, but at the same time I could see where she doesn't even gather the 300 delegates necessary to have her name introduced into the nominations at the DNC.

[George II]

3. Yes, she actually indirectly raised $millions for her presidential campaign....

....via high-dollar fundraisers for her Senate campaigns.

She held at least two high-dollar fundraisers in New York (!!) for her 2012 Massachusetts Senate campaign and another one just last year for her 2018 campaign. And that one last year was, ironically, at a winery!!

Now that she has all that money raised from high-dollar fundraisers she's swearing off them.

[Amimnoch]

2. Are her personal ethics so weak that she couldn't maintain personal integrity

And accept voluntarily made donations?

Pretty sad anyone who can’t see a difference between:
Donations made from sources expecting a change in policy or something in return
Vs
Donation made from sources because they believe in what you are already proposing and don’t expect anything (other than keeping your public promises) in return.

[OKNancy]

6. I was typing almost the same thing

while you posted this.

[BootinUp]

14. That's not it, she is using this as a primary weapon

Once that is past, she’ll have another story and less of a problem with certain events etc. but I don’t expect her to get that far.

[OldRed2450]

4. Well, I think it's fair if everyone starts TRYING after they raised 10 million dollars...

in swanky events.

[Skya Rhen]

8. Perfect!

[OKNancy]

5. The whole premise just irritates me because

it assumes that by taking money that your are corruptible.
She may be tempted to be corrupt if she takes their money. And with that, then: Buttigieg is corruptible, Biden and Amy and Bernie...
all of them. Just assume the worst about Democrats.

I think that is bullshit.

I say take all the money you can get because on the other side is the most evil man ever to hold office and he bankrolled by others who are disgustingly evil too.

[George II]

7. Below are the invitations for the two private events held in 2012. It should be noted...

....that one of the organizers of the second one, Linda Fairstein, headed up the prosecution of the Central Park Five.

[Skya Rhen]

9. Wow - so hypocritical.

[brooklynite]

11. Just checked my archives; I have MANY other invites for events she held in NYC

Her finance person at the time is a friend of mine.

[caraher]

10. yeah, yeah, and she used to be a Republican...

I think the "wine cave" attack was dumb, but it's also equally destructive infighting to accuse Warren of hypocrisy because she used standard fundraising tactics in her Senate campaign.

I wish we would ALL spend far less time trying to "catch out" Democrats for alleged hypocrisy or shady dealings. And to be clear, this applies to my candidate too (I thought she made a terrible choice; I also think every candidate in the race has said and done things I don't agree with).

[dsc]

18. She isn't being accused of hypocrisy for using the tactics she is being accused of hypocrisy

for calling the only gay candidate in the race corrupt for using those tactics.

[LAS14]

12. Huh. We ended up giving the max to Hillary. So sad she didn't win as we....

... were counting on an ambasadorship...

[Hav]

13. I was hoping we'd move on to the next story

but now she doubles down. Would have been better to just apologize for attacking Pete for what she did and it would be over.
It was a self-inflicted wound to bring that up during the debate. She could have made the point and highlighted her transition from these fundraisers better without attacking or naming anyone. The message would have been the same without trying to drag someone down.

[madville]

15. If Warren donates to a political candidate

Is that candidate now being influenced and owned by a multimillionaire?

[gulliver]

16. I almost think not taking high-dollar donations is disqualifying.

That's unilateral disarmament in my opinion. Our wealthy are not in it for the money. Or, rather, it's the exception in the Dem Party and the rule in the Republican.

The good guys need the resources. That's us.

[Hortensis]

17. They all want money out of politics but understand first

they have to win. Anything else is lying.

In this case, this candidate repositioned herself on this issue as moving to small donors. Fine, but how they raise money in the transition from the old ways to the new enabled by modern technology matters very little to me. It's what they fight for once they get the power that I care about.

Warren made a bad mistake by cynically and hypocritically attacking another Democratic candidate over "wine caves with crystals," and it's biting her badly, as it should. I'm disappointed in her.

Biden doesn't attack his fellow Democratic candidates. His message is focused on saving America from the right and foreign enemies determined to destroy us, and that's what I want from ALL of them.

NO excuses for failing!