600 million in advertising, 10 million in concerts with stars and one million in a program with Oprah. Kamala Harris’ campaign spending is becoming well-known and there is bewilderment among Democrats.
It was an intense fifteen-week campaign in which presidential candidate Kamala Harris spent a total of $1.5 billion (about €1.4 billion), the New York Times reported in an article published this Sunday. Despite the high costs and the donations it received, the The Democrat ended up losing the presidential race to his opponent Donald Trump.
Questions are raised within the Democratic Party about how costs are not calculated. had practical results and what was your destinationespecially after Democrats asked members and supporters for donations in the post-election period. The financial director of the Democratic National Committee, Chris Korge, admitted that the defeat of Kamala Harris in the seven undecided states (Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) “shocked” campaign managers.
Quoted by the New York Times, Chris Korge indicated that a “study and analysis of the campaign” will be carried out, which will try to understand the problems “in the structure, the message, the platforms and the budget.” In turn, Adrian Hemond, a Democratic strategist from Michigan, highlighted to the Associated Press that the Harris campaign “certainly spent more than it raised.”
Although there are no public records of all campaign costs, there are some expenses that have been disclosed. For example, Kamala Harris paid a million dollars (around 938 thousand euros) to Oprah Winfrey in an interview that was also a question and answer session with her followers. Confronted with the tabloid TMZ, the television presenter assured that she did not earn money from the campaign, but said that the money was spent on paying the producer: “Studios, lights, cameras, microphones, staffproducers and all other elements, including benches and chairs.”
During the final stretch of the campaign, Kamala Harris hosted star concertslike Lady Gaga, Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera or Katy Perry. According to the New York Times, the costs will amount to more than 10 million dollars (approximately 9.5 million euros). Like Oprah, the singers didn’t make any money, but that money was spent on production costs.
At the Katy Perry concert in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the costs were higher. The Democratic campaign had set a stagebut, hours before, the Secret Service announced that the concert could not take place due to lack of security. The event organizers had to set up a second stage in record time.
Advertising investment was the main expense of the campaign. In television and Internet ads, the vice president spent 600 million dollars (around 569 million euros).
Despite all these expenses, the campaign’s financial director, Patrick Stauffer, assured the New York Times that “there will be no debt” and put the issue in perspective. “Thanks to donations to Vice President Harris, we were able to carry out an aggressive campaign to reach voters, keeping the battle very close in key states,” he stressed.
Source: Observadora
