A Pro-Biden group, operating with White House approval, plans to raise unlimited funds – and grant donors anonymity – as it prepares to promote and protect the president’s agenda from outside.
Why does it matter: By not limiting anonymous contributions, the group, called Building Back Together, will find it easier to raise money ahead of its planned launch next month to defend Biden’s policies, including its $ 1.9 trillion aid package .
- “We will work in collaboration with existing groups that are working to achieve the same goals,” says a statement from the organization.
- “We will also leave the public release of your donations to individual donors.”
- The group, which will be organized as a 501 (c) (4) non-profit organization, will impose some fundraising limits: It will not accept contributions from companies, registered lobbyists or the oil and gas industry.
The big picture: The outside group is partly a facsimile of a previous Democratic organization, The Common Purpose Project, which was created by President Obama’s allies to coordinate the progressive movement early in Obama’s term.
- However, Building Back Together differs from Obama’s model in one crucial aspect: that group limited contributions to $ 50,000 and released their names.
- But President Trump’s allies did not comply with these conventions when they established their groups four years ago and raised unlimited funds from anonymous donors.
- Democrats took note.
- “We are playing by the rules of the current system and will remain at the same standard as many other external groups working to impact the direction of this country,” according to the statement.
Go deeper: The White House will have no operational control over the new group, which will make some paid media, both digital and broadcast, as it tries to define the terms of the debate over Biden’s policies.
- “It has a very specific path and a very specific role and cannot do the work that state parties do and cannot coordinate with state parties,” White House deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon told Wall Street. Journal for last month, who first reported on the group.
Between the lines: Building Back Together will have a team of former Biden campaign advisers and former Democratic strategists.
- Danielle Melfi, state director of the Wisconsin Biden campaign, will serve as executive director.
- Stephanie Cutter, co-founder of Precision Strategies with O’Malley Dillon, played a key role.
- Patrick Bonsignore, who directed paid media for Biden and Matt Barreto, one of Biden’s researchers, will also be involved.
- Addisu Demissie, who helped produce the Democratic National Convention with Cutter, is also part of the team.
Be smart: Democrats are willing to resist criticism for abandoning some of Obama’s transparency standards to ensure that his party maintains the White House.