Subject: RE: Approval: Marshall Medium
From: "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]>
To: "Domino, Cate" <[email-masked]>, ContentApprovals_D <[email-masked]>, "Walker, Eric" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 5 May 2016 15:25:43 -0700

Great, thanks. We're making some tweaks and running the traps.

[SigDems]<http://www.democrats.org/>Luis Miranda, Communications Director
Democratic National Committee
202-863-8148 - [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]> - @MiraLuisDC<https://www.twitter.com/MiraLuisDC>

From: Domino, Cate
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2016 6:16 PM
To: ContentApprovals_D; Walker, Eric
Cc: Miranda, Luis
Subject: Approval: Marshall Medium

Let us know what you think

TITLE: Democrats are ready for the general elections, thanks in part to joint victory funds
BYLINE: Brad Marshall

When I started working at the Democratic National Committee, the office was smaller, the computers were bigger, and if I wanted to talk through campaign finance, it meant blocking off a couple hours and going out for coffee.

Since then, there have been a whole lot of changes. But one thing that stayed pretty constant? We are still using joint victory funds to make sure that every Democrat has the resources they need to succeed in November.

This year, we have established joint victory funds with both the Clinton and the Sanders campaigns, which is exactly what we did with the Obama campaign in 2012, with both the Obama and Clinton campaigns in 2008, with the Kerry campaign in 2004, and you get the picture. Under these agreements, our candidates can fundraise simultaneously for their campaigns, for the DNC, and for the state parties that do so much work to support down-ballot Democrats. And yes, these funds are absolutely allowed by the Federal Elections Commission.

[IMAGE<https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZ1wjBpWEAAWD3D.jpg> Caption: DNC CEO Amy K. Dacey on the trail for John Kerry in 2004]

There has been a lot of confusion and misinformation about the joint victory funds, so I want to correct a few points.

1. Joint Victory Funds are building our general election nest egg
Millions of dollars that we have earmarked for the general election are sitting in the bank, ready to be distributed to state parties (and, for what it's worth, to the DNC) once the general election is officially underway. You may have heard that state parties are only keeping 1% of the money being raised by Joint Victory Funds, but that's misleading. It ignores the money that is being kept safe for general election needs. As more coordinated campaign offices - home bases for Democrats working and volunteering for presidential, statewide, and local candidates - are established, that money will pay for staff and office space.

[IMAGE<https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzHU3dDCEAI1lyX.jpg> Caption: VP Biden brings pizza for campaign staff and volunteers]

2. Joint Victory Funds pay for resources the state parties need
You probably know that the DNC manages a massive amount of voter data that everyone from our presidential campaigns down to candidates running for local office can leverage in their races. But that costs a lot of money, and the staff and vendors who manage that data are paid by the DNC. The DNC is also building the tools and staff to manage complex rapid response, communications, and digital organizing needs - again, we pay for it, and give the tools and resources to down-ballot Dems.

[IMAGE<https://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/557897226/> Caption: Organizers for President Obama's 2008 primary campaign]

3. Joint Victory Funds are legal
It might sound strange coming from the guy who manages the Democratic Party's money, but I believe that putting commonsense limits on the amount of money any one person can give to a candidate or political party is good for our democracy. And that's also one of the good things about joint victory funds - they have a lot of legal limitations in place that help to keep the amount of money we raise under control and ensure that every dollar gets reported.

But you don't have to trust me: Dr. Rick Hasen is an expert in campaign finance and election law and a professor at  University of California, Irvine School of Law, and he has responded to criticism of the DNC's use of joint victory funds by saying, in short, "legally, this seems weak."

The general election will be here before we know it, and I'm resting easier knowing that we have built the tools and saved the money we need to come out of the gate as strong as possible. If you care about electing Democrats, you should feel that way, too.

Brad Marshall is the Chief Financial Officer of the Democratic National Committee