Republicans Don’t Trust New Fundraising Platform

Playbook: “Almost no one at the White House or in GOP leadership wants to hear this, but WinRed has a big issue on its hands. Members of Congress are skeptical of them, because they don’t know who is profiting off of it and they can’t get straight answers about what’s going to happen with their data.

“The retort from Republican involved is, trust us, get on board or else you’ll continue to get smoked by your Democratic opponents. That’s probably true, but lawmakers want answers and they aren’t getting them. And until then, there is going to be angst and doubts — no matter how many presentations they get, or veiled threats they hear from the leadership and White House-linked operatives. Of course, there are members who have signed up — more than 100 — and the service is drawing donations. That does not negate the skepticism.”

“Republicans — pushed by Jared Kushner — created WinRed to compete with ActBlue. But ActBlue was a private company that caught fire because it was good. WinRed is being foisted upon lawmakers by the party leadership.”