“Traditional political kingmakers like the parties’ national committees and powerful insiders have lost their edge for 2020 as buzzy, insurgent campaigns have the ability to seize control of the narrative — and bundles of cash,” Axios reports.

“The smoke-filled room has burned to the ground, and the advantage now lies fully with the electorate to determine what they want. For Democrats, that means making sense of a massive field of more than 20 candidates — while, for Republicans, that means bending to the originator of this trend: President Trump.”

New York Times: “About 200 bundlers from across the country are expected to gather Tuesday at the Trump International Hotel for a series of meetings and workshops about the campaign’s new fund-raising program. Vice President Mike Pence will address the group. Brad Parscale, President Trump’s campaign manager, will play host. Stephen A. Schwarzman, the Wall Street billionaire, has R.S.V.P.’d yes.”

“The group will be divided into tiers, based on success in raising money. The ‘Trump Train’ donors, or those who raise $25,000, will be given a lapel pin and access to a national retreat and leadership dinners. ‘Club 45’ members, or those who raise $45,000, will get all of that, as well as monthly conference calls with Republican Party leaders. And the ‘Builders Club,’ or those bundlers who raise $100,000 or more, will be given access to national campaign events.”

“It is the kind of traditional campaign fund-raising apparatus that Mr. Trump thumbed his nose at during his 2016 run. And it involves some donors who only grudgingly accepted him once he was the Republican presidential nominee.”

“I have a very different energy than this president. There’s going to be a temptation to kind of play his game. If you’re playing his game, you’re losing. Nobody’s going to play his game better than he does and so we’ve got to do something completely different. The good news is Americans as a rule tend to go for the opposite of whatever they just had in a presidential election.”

— Mayor Pete Buttigieg, in an interview with NBC News.