Ben Smith of POLITICO reports in an exclusive that the Republican National Committee is using live events like those of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Professional Bull Riding to attract younger donors.
A major Republican donor described the state of the RNC’s relationship with major donors as “disastrous,” with veteran givers beginning to abandon the committee, which is becoming increasingly reliant on small donors.
The party’s average contribution in 2009, according to the document, was just $40, and the shift toward a financial reliance on the grassroots may help explain Steele’s increasingly strident tone toward the Obama Administration.
While the crude portrayal of Obama may be – as Steele ‘s spokesman put it – “unacceptable,” other elements of the presentation may be of equal interest to close political observers.
The RNC plans to raise $8.6 million from major donors alone in 2010, less than 10% of its total 2009 fundraising take, which was primarily from small donors.”
The center of that plan is an extensive, and colorful, schedule of events. Along with traditional fundraisers with conservative luminaries including Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes, the party plans to raise $80,000 for a trip to London to meet David Cameron, the British Conservative Party leader, on September 17.
The RNC’s “Young Eagles” – younger major donors and the only group, according to a major donor, continuing to pull its weight financially – are invited to a “professional bull riding event” in October, expected to raise $50,000, and to a no-holds-barred Ultimate Fighting Championship fight in Las Vegas the same month, expected to raise $60,000.
The RNC’s aim, according to one section of the document: “Putting the Fun Back in FUNdraising.”
Payout Perspective:
We try to avoid national politics on the website as best we can, but the explicit mention of the UFC being used as a fundraising tool is certainly interesting. The RNC is using the UFC as a fundraising tool ostensibly because it provides them with an appealing event for young, wealthier individuals – something that might be seen to support some of the more recent MMA demographic studies we’ve seen.
It’s funny how things change, isn’t it? Just a few short years ago, many of these same politicians were more than willing to declare the UFC as foul, barbaric, and inhumane.
FYI: Dana White has been a supporter of the Republican Party in the past: donating to John Ensign in 2005 and most recently Chael Sonnen’s run for office in Oregon. However, the Fertitta’s, Station Casinos, and Zuffa have made several contributions to both major parties over the years.
The funniest part was during the ’08 election when Dana kept defending John McCain saying that he just wanted it sanctioned, not banned. Then in an interview McCain was asked about and he said he still doesn’t think it’s a sport (though he did pass on calling for it to be banned).
If I had to guess I’d say UFC fighters politically resemble the athletes of wrestling, baseball, golf and NASCAR.
They’re likely to find a lot of friends there. The sport has been taken over by zuffa zombies whose thinking is conditioned by their knowledge of the character hulk hogan. More than that, these people are extremely right wing. The Fertittas themselves are fascists. They even bankrupted their father’s casino to prove it.
Ben: You mean MMA fighters?
I’d say no. You think GSP and Jason Miller are right wing?