Bumpy Republican road to 2024?

When I was young, and we were poor, my mother told me that money isn’t everything. I believed her. Her guidance had always been good. She told me to wipe my nose when it ran, check my fly when I went off to school, say “I’m sorry” when I accidentally knocked a classmate off her tricycle, and always vote for Democrats.

But I learned later what she didn’t know when I was a child. Money may not be everything, but sometimes it is a lot. A pragmatic California politician, Jesse Unruh, observed in the 1950s, that “money is the mother’s milk of politics.” You need it because victory doesn’t come cheap and even defeat is expensive. Ordinarily, Republicans get mother’s milk by the gallon. Democrats by the pint.

This year that has changed. Normally, Republicans have more big donors and more money in the bank than the Democrats. But recently, that has not been so. Democratic donations are way up, and Republican donations, both large and small, are way down.

A recent report said, “The Republican National Committee disclosed that it had $9.1 million in cash on hand as of Oct. 30, the lowest amount for the RNC in any election since February 2015.”

This year the Democrats had $17.7 million as of Oct. 30, almost twice as much as the Republican Party. A member of the RNC said, “We’re going through the same efforts we always go through to raise money … but the return is much lower this year.”

For Democrats to be simply ahead in fundraising is exciting and would make the ghost of Jesse Unruh dance on the nearest Republican grave. Almost twice as much as the Republican Party is beyond the wildest Democratic dream.

Some donors are not giving because of Donald Trump. To my surprise, they have had enough of him. The best example is that the Koch Network, the top source of conservative money, isn’t giving to the Republican National Committee because they think that will help Donald Trump.

The network just announced support for Nikki Halley, the “liberal” candidate among the mob. A Trump disdained may be an unguided missile. He is not likely to go quietly away. He is more likely to attack the Republican nominee in his usual unbalanced fashion, and threaten to run as a third-party candidate.

Democratic hopes for 2024 are fed by what is not coming in, but also by what is going out. Members of the House are leaving in record numbers, about three dozen in a bipartisan exodus have indicated they will not seek re-election. Some will run for other offices, but most are tired of headless body accomplishing virtually nothing. The chaos that led to Mike Johnson as speaker was disheartening for many serious lawmakers. Like Trump, he is more than many Republicans can take. They, like most Democrats as well, leave home and family to do something good for the country. They may differ widely in their vision of a better society, but they share a sense of purpose.

If the Republican National Committee is a sinking ship, I think my mother would join me in wishing them, “Bon Voyage.”

Norman Sherman of Coralville has worked extensively in politics, including as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary, and authored a memoir “From Nowhere to Somewhere.”