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Coronavirus Makes it Harder for Campaigns to Ask for Money

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - White House candidates aren't usually bashful about asking
   supporters for money.

   But as the coronavirus upends everyday life, inundating hospitals,
   tanking financial markets and putting 3.3 million Americans out of
   work, President Donald Trump and his likely Democratic rival, Joe
   Biden, suddenly find themselves navigating perilous terrain.

   What used to be a routine request for political cash could now come
   across as tone-deaf or tacky. The two also run the risk of competing
   for limited dollars with charities trying to raise money for pandemic
   relief. With a recession potentially on the horizon, there's a question
   of whether wealthy donors are in a giving mood and whether grassroots
   supporters who chip in small amounts will still have the wherewithal to
   keep at it.

   That presents a delicate challenge as both candidates try to stockpile
   the massive amounts of cash needed for the general election campaign.

   "It's hard to have a conversation with someone right now to ask how
   they're getting by, and then ask them for financial support in the next
   sentence," said Greg Goddard, a Democratic fundraiser who worked for
   Amy Klobuchar's presidential campaign before the Minnesota senator
   dropped out of the Democratic race.

   To Tim Lim, a Democratic consultant who worked for both Barack Obama
   and Hillary Clinton, "it's a world where no one has a good answer.'' He
   said that "on the fundraising side, we are going to take some massive
   hits as a party."

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