Views From The Edge
Photo by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
It’s a risk, but Andrew Yang is willing to take that chance if it moves him into the top tier of Democrats seeking the presidency.
He has decided to accept funds raised by a Super PAC, making him the only one of the Democratic candidates to do so, reports HuffPost. The other candidates are depending on comparatively small donations from individuals in order to demonstrate their independence from lobbyists and special interests.
The group backing Yang is Math PAC, which is run by Will Hailer, former senior Democratic National Committee (DNC) adviser. Hailer told Recode that the super PAC planned to spend at least $1 million to back Yang.
“Math PAC will work to ensure that [Americans] know that Andrew Yang is our best chance of defeating Donald Trump,” reads the group’s mission statement. “We conduct targeted advertising, plan events, and launch outreach initiatives, so Americans learn what is at stake this election cycle and into the future.”
Yang, whose campaign is stalling around 2% in the polls, has surprised pundits for lasting this long. Although he’s outperformed better known and more experienced candidates, he has failed to move into the top five contenders that include Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris.
With the $10 million raised by his campaign in the last quarter, Yang should have enough to carry him through the first few primaries and the caucuses in Iowa and Nevada.
“I know very little about the Math PAC generally,” Yang told CBS, according to Inquisitr. “If it’s the case that we have the rules that we have, and people want to support my message and my campaign, given the system we have right now, they’re free to do so.”
This contradicts Yang’s previously stated desire to overturn Citizens United, a court ruling that fueled the rise of super PACs.
“As the only candidate in the Democratic primary openly embracing the help of a single-candidate super PAC, Andrew Yang has sold out to big money and ended any pretense of running a grassroots campaign,” End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller told HuffPost. “Single digit poll numbers and a big money super PAC bailing you out doesn’t equal a winning campaign. The math doesn’t add up.”
Social media shows that people have some mixed opinions about Yang’s decision.
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