Thread by @tqbf

Here is an argument against donating to presidential candidates, stated less glibly than I did last night.

First premise: downballot races need the money. Even small donations to House and state candidates make a difference.

Second premise: presidential candidates don’t really need your money. They won’t notice it. They’re swimming in it.

Third, and most important premise: a downballot donation helps the top of the ticket.

That is to say: every dollar you donate to JD Scholten in IA-4 is going to help Sanders, Warren, Klobes, whoever. The voters JD Scholten turns out aren’t going to vote for Trump.

(Is that 100% true? No, but, close.)

In fact, in places like Iowa, the effect is even stronger, because a vote turned out by Scholten is also going to go to whoever ends up running against Joni Ernst in her Senate reelection race.

This seems like an especially strong argument if you’re in a safe D area, like I am in Chicago and you are in CA and NY. Want to donate to Warren? Why not do it through Iowa or Maine and hit 3 races at once?

There are structural reasons this strategy makes sense, too, because downballot candidates are doing DIFFERENT THINGS than Warren and Biden. How much of a Warren donation goes to bid up the cost of media buys? Why allocate your donations to that?