Polls can be hard to trust when it comes to Presidential elections. They present confusion and differing results depending on the host of the poll, their audience, who sees the poll and so on. And let’s face it, not all people that fill out polls online are going to actually get out to vote. It’s safe to say that there is no current National poll that accurately represents where all Americans stand on this election day. So with that said, I’ve chosen to take a look at the numbers instead.
By paying attention to individual campaign donations, you can start to see a pattern when it comes to American voters and where they are leaning. People who donate to campaigns are very likely to vote also.
In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton managed to dominate the polls over Donald Trump. And she did win the popular vote, but it was not enough to place her in office. Clinton was able to raise nearly twice the amount of campaign dollars as Trump throughout the entirety of their campaigns. But interestingly enough, in the months closest to the election, Clinton was raising less money on a monthly basis than Trump. From Oct. 20 to Nov. 28, Clinton raised $66 million and Trump raised $80.9 million. This means that while Clinton raised more money overall, Trump was raising more per month in the months closest to the election. And, as we know, he won the Presidency.
As far as the 2020 election goes, the numbers for the second half of October are not out yet, but we do have numbers for the first half of October. Overall and as of today, Trump has raised $1.57 billion dollars and Biden has raised $1.51 Billion. But, since July, Biden has been consistently raising more than double what Trump has on a monthly basis.
Most of Trump’s money was raised prior to July according to FEC filings. Meanwhile, Biden’s overall campaign donations have doubled since July. Biden’s campaign is running full speed towards another winning month, as it has raised $130 million in October so far. Trump trails behind once again, having only raised $43 million in the first half of October.
It is important to note, however, that this election is an Incumbent vs. Biden, whereas this was not this case in the 2016 election. By following the money, it is easy to see that this will be an incredibly close race.
Who do you think will win the election this year? Please feel free to leave your comments on the online version of this article. We at the Pampa News enjoy hearing opinions from our readers.
