Dan McLaughlin of National Review Online notes a recent abrupt change in Republican Party fundraising.
If you have been on Republican fundraising email lists the past several years — even if, like me, you have never given a penny to Donald Trump’s campaigns — you are familiar not only with the regular deluge of such emails, but also with the ubiquity of Trump and the Trump family in the sender line, subject line, text, and merchandise offered in such emails. Trump is everywhere. Until now: Suddenly, he’s gone. After noticing this pattern, I went through my inbox (even the spam folder) and counted up the fundraising emails from official GOP sources since January 7, the day after the Capitol riot. What isn’t said speaks volumes. I categorized these by the sender or domain.
cp20.com: An umbrella domain used by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC, a fundraising group for state parties). Out of 87 emails, zero mentioned Trump.
standupforliberty.net: Another umbrella domain, used by NRSC, NRCC, the Republican Governors Association (RGA), and Leslie Rutledge for Arkansas Governor. Out of 76 emails, zero mentioned Trump.
NYGOP.org: The New York Republican Party, including both press releases and more obvious fundraisers. Out of eleven emails, one mentioned Trump, and that a reference to Andrew Cuomo suing the Trump administration. …
… Even emails pounding away at social-media bans talk about banning “conservatives,” not Trump himself. Jake Tapper of CNN is mentioned in more of these emails than Trump is. …
… Few things are more directly aimed at the tribal id of political partisans than fundraising pitches via direct mail and email. If rank-and-file Republican donors are more likely to respond favorably than unfavorably to mentions of the president, you’d expect to see that. If my inbox is at all representative, Trump’s absence speaks volumes about what the fundraising professionals are seeing in the mood of the party.