In the wake of a massive loss to Carly Fiorina, conservative Senate candidate Chuck DeVore is asking supporters to help him retire campaign debt, making no mention in fundraising emails of the former rival whom he once called a “long, slow trainwreck.” Now that Fiorina (R-CA) is transitioning to the general election against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D), TPMDC caught up with DeVore to ask if he still foresees a trainwreck down the tracks.
“That’s up to the candidate and the press. These things unfold,” DeVore told TPMDC in an interview today. “Can she execute a sharply run campaign or not?” DeVore did say that from what he’s seen in the days since Fiorina won the nomination, she’s kept to conservative principles and “didn’t wobble.”
“The early indications are promising,” DeVore said.
DeVore, backed by tea partiers and the Senate Conservatives Fund, once called Fiorina’s candidacy “all sizzle and no steak,” but swiftly endorsed Fiorina after the primary. He’s been sending out fundraising emails to retire his campaign debt that don’t mention Fiorina.
But DeVore said it’s silly to read anything into that, since he’s asking for cash from loyal supporters who just weren’t that into Fiorina.
DeVore said Fiorina co-opted his conservative message but spent $10 million to use it, a strategy that worked better than his grassroots approach. “Carly was willing to spend more of her wealth even though she said at the beginning of the race she wasn’t going to do that,” DeVore said.
We also asked DeVore how he’s been dealing with campaign debt. He hasn’t asked for Fiorina to help him pay it off (in the spirit of Hillary-Obama unity). He did, however, tell his supporters in an email today that it’s “difficult” for him to ask them for money. He said donations of $25, $50 or $100 would help him pay off remaining debt, and included this photo below as a reminder that as a “frugal” conservative he made his own campaign buttons.
“I spent every penny I had on yard signs, bumper stickers and voter contact that now I have a few bills I still need to pay off,” DeVore wrote in the email.
In a twist, DeVore told TPMDC that he’s actually paid off campaign bills but the debt stems from Don Henley’s copyright lawsuit. Henley challenged DeVore’s parodies of his songs for campaign ads titled “Hope of November,” a knock off of “The Boys of Summer,” and “All She Wants to Do is Tax” instead of “All She Wants to Do is Dance.”
DeVore said the lawsuit could stretch into August, and of course, cost more money along the way. “This could go on for awhile,” he said.
