Subject: Hassan
From: "Joshua Alcorn" <[email-masked]>
To: "Beau Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 11:22:35 -0400

An update and a few thoughts:

Money in:
Rasky: $11k
Manatos: $10k
Meihel: $7k in, $7k pledged
George Marcus: $2500
Joe Kiani: $5k
Bill Bartmann: $5k
Doug Hickey: $1k

If Meihel’s remaining $7k comes in, the event did $48,500. Not too shabby considering the timing of it. The VP doubled down at the event, pledging another $35k on top of what he had previously committed. So we’re about $21,500 short, but have through the summer to get the rest in.

Here’s what I propose to get the remaining money: The meetings and coffees the VP is doing on the road and at NavObs are going very well. The feedback I’m getting from Schultz and from the people who attend is that the VP is simply crushing it and wowing people left and right. Not surprising. A few folks have said directly to the VP or to me that they’re all in for whatever he wants to do. I propose putting that commitment to the test. As we do more of these, let’s wait a few weeks after the meeting and ask the attendees to step up and help the VP help Hassan. It has already worked: George Marcus, Joe Kiani and Doug Hickey all attended meetings with the VP in the last few months. Actually, Kiani bailed at the last minute, but was invited and did speak to the VP before the meeting in LA. And of course, the Greeks had their own sit down with your dad before his trip to Cyprus, or to the area. Bartmann has been in and out of the office (I think) but obviously knows you both well.

I think this approach will help us understand just how committed folks are.

(Ok, here comes the hard part. If I’m stepping beyond my role as Beau’s fundraiser, I’m sorry. But this is important, and I hope you’ll give what I suggest serious thought.)

There is however a larger problem, one both of you are familiar with. Right now there is no vehicle by which supporters can actually help the VP, aside from these one off events. And the manner in which commitments are made, events are held, calls and asks are made is completely ad hoc and often very disorganized. Hassan is one example, Mowrer is another. As I wrote last fall, there needs to be a more organized process for raising money for the people the VP wants to help. 

The biggest problem with the Hassan event was the timing. Both Rasky and I got calls around 4 pm the Friday before the Monday event, in hopes to make the event less of a disaster.If it weren’t for our Greek friends, the event would have been really, really bad. We cannot rely on the Greek community to bail us out. But more importantly, we can’t rely on the Greek community to help everyone, every time we ask.  The event was on my radar, and I had sent an email to Beau’s DC list earlier in that week. But it was never made clear to me that the person who was supposed to be building the event was the VP. I thought  it was a Hassan event, he was simply dropping by. There was a communication breakdown, clearly.

The second biggest problem with the Hassan event was the way asks had to be made. I’m in a very, very awkward position when I call folks. I do not have the full weight of the VP behind me. I say, “the VP called Beau, and asked us to work on this project. It’s really important to Beau and his dad that Hassan have enough money to combat her self-funding opponent. Yada Yada Yada.” A donor hears my ask, and wonders why the VP isn’t calling. Why is Beau not calling? If it’s such a big deal, why have a staffer two steps removed from Joe Biden’s political operation call? That’s what happened with Michael Adler, who was more dismissive of me than usual. That’s what happened with Bagley (another call your dad suggested for me). There are very good, valid reasons why it’s me calling, but donors don’t know (or care).

The third biggest problem with the Hassan event was the fact that your dad seemed really nervous and focused on making the event a success. He has much bigger things to worry about. Like getting on the helicopter to get to Andrews to take a 38 hour whirlwind trip to the Ukraine. There will be times where he’ll need to do targeted outreach to help candidates. But 4 pm on a Friday is not that time. He’s the Vice President of the United States. He shouldn’t have to worry that the fundraising events he does for people will flop. An event should never flop.

So. I come back to the idea I proposed last fall. There needs to be a Leadership PAC with your dad as honorary chair. There needs to be a real, intense discussion of the candidates he wants to help in the 2014 elections. The VP has been involved in many critical elections over his long career. And these mid-terms are, arguably, in the top 3 most important election cycles dating back to ’72. At the very least, they will have the greatest impact on his and the president's ability to govern in the last half of their second term.

A PAC doesn’t need to be on the same level as what I proposed last fall. There’s just not enough time. But I think 250k-300k is completely doable, and likely can be done through two or three dinners in DC. People will travel for something like this.

The comparisons to HRC will be less this close to the election. People are getting sick of the Ready For Hillary chatter. It’s all focused on helping HER. HER. Not other Dems (although the PAC may actually be able to help candidates this fall: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/06/13/ready-for-hillary-is-already-spending-a-ton-of-dough-on-2016/). A Biden Leadership PAC would be about helping others first. A Biden Leadership PAC would be focused on 2014, not her PAC’s 2016 focus. 

This leadership PAC would have little overhead, outside of a small digital footprint (which could be scaled up if needed) and the cost of doing events. The money raised would be going right back in to races. And now, since McCutcheon, we’re not pressing up against the old federal limits to PACs and party committees. 

This leadership PAC would solve a number of the issues with the Hassan event. For one, contributions could be made directly to a campaign, rather than trying to put together an event. I can go in to much more detail about what I mean here, but suffice it to say: events with POTUS or VPOTUS for are a lot more difficult to manage as a fundraiser for a state wide or congressional  campaign. As I often say, the juice isn’t always worth the squeeze.

Secondly, there will be one place where commitments are made and fulfilled. Your dad would have to worry less when he makes commitments to candidates. Campaigns would know there’s one place to go for Biden help, and it wouldn’t be a scatter shot, ad hoc, free for all.

And here’s an idea. What if the “founding members” of the PAC are asked to give the $5k maximum to the PAC, and pledge an additional $10,000 directly to key races the VP picks. So, Wade Randlett, for example. Writes $5k to the Biden PAC, then $1000 each to five senate campaigns, three governors and two congressional candidates? If we get 50 people to do this, each campaign would get $50,000 + the PAC’s $5k. It wouldn’t be that hard to find 50 people willing to commit $15,000 to the VP’s political operation.

I know people will write to this PAC. The fundraising won’t be the hard part. The hard part is selling the plan, which you guys are probably the best at.

Thanks for reading this long winded, stream of consciousness email.
/ja

Joshua Alcorn
302/295.8340 (office)
302/598.1885 (cell)
[email-masked]