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Hollywood's Midterm Donors Discover That a Backyard Cannot Vote
· New York time
Left-leaning Hollywood activists are approaching Tuesday's midterm elections with anxiety and some cautious optimism, Deadline reports. Polls have looked encouraging for Democrats, but donor fatigue has been apparent during a cycle in which candidates sought industry contributions at upscale backyard events and in individual phone calls. The mood reflects two different parts of political fundraising. Money and access can help candidates make their case, but neither can settle an election before voters cast ballots. A donor can host a gathering, take a call and check the polling, then wait for a result just like everyone else. The expensive furniture does not come with a guaranteed forecast. The entertainment industry's visibility makes its political involvement easy to turn into a spectacle. The less glamorous detail in this report is fatigue: repeated requests for support can wear on the people receiving them, even when they remain engaged. Cautious optimism is a considerably smaller product than the confidence usually sold at a fundraiser. For candidates, the industry offers access to people with deep pockets. For those supporters, the investment buys participation, not certainty. Election night is therefore the rare Hollywood production in which the hosts cannot revise the ending after seeing an early audience reaction. The backyard can stage the event; the electorate writes the result.
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