Delaney posts best online fundraising day of campaign after primary debate

Former Rep. John Delaney’s presidential campaign had its best online fundraising day of the 2020 cycle after Tuesday’s primary debate in which the Maryland Democrat vocally rebuked other candidates’ progressive policies. 

The campaign announced Wednesday it also saw a 20-fold increase in donor rate during the 24 hour period surrounding the debate and that Delaney got a 10 percent boost in his number of personal Twitter followers.

{mosads}“John put the pedal to the metal last night in the Motor City and the engine was revving online,” said campaign manager John Davis. “As John said, this primary is about a choice between extreme policies that aren’t popular and real solutions that can also get done.” 

The campaign did not immediately respond to a request for clarification from The Hill regarding the amount that was raised.

Delaney was on the front lines of Tuesday night’s battle between a slate of centrist candidates and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who have proposed a slew of progressive plans that Delaney said would alienate independents and reelect President Trump. 

“So, I think Democrats win when we run on real solutions, not impossible promises, when we run on things that are workable, not fairytale economics,” he said.

“I don’t understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for,” Warren fired back in one of the debate’s most memorable exchanges. 

Delaney particularly doubled down on Sanders and Warren’s “Medicare for All” plans that would eliminate private insurance, saying it was “bad policy” and would make the Democratic Party “the party of subtraction.” 

“You’re wrong,” Sanders shot back. 

The fundraising boost is welcome news for Delaney, who was seeking a breakout moment in Tuesday’s debate and has thus far lagged behind several other White House contenders in polling and fundraising. He has yet to qualify for the debates in September.