Wire $8 million to Wisconsin Democrats. Back David Crowley. Watch Tom Tiffany answer with Jeffrey Epstein.
That is the trade. Reid Hoffman buys a governor's race, and the opposition buys a name from his past.
Consider the economics. Eight million dollars buys a lot of Wisconsin television. It buys yard signs, mailers, and a thousand ads featuring a man squinting at a cheese factory. It does not buy silence on Epstein. Tiffany is not for sale. He is for rent, and the rate is free.
Hoffman has said before that he regrets his dealings with Epstein. Tiffany does not care. Regret does not poll well in Waukesha County.
Crowley now has a rich donor and a rich problem. The donor gives money. The problem gives headlines. Only one of them can be deducted.
Retail traders will read this and ask whether it moves the market. It does not. Nothing in Wisconsin politics moves your portfolio. Your portfolio moves on its own, mostly down, mostly on Tuesdays.
Still, respect the discipline. Hoffman did not dip a toe in. He wrote one big check and walked away. That is more conviction than you showed buying that biotech stock because the ticker spelled your dog's name.
Tiffany's strategy is also sound. Why debate property taxes when you can print a name on a flyer? Voters remember names. Ask anyone who bought a coin named after a dog.
This race will end. Someone will win Wisconsin, someone will lose, and somewhere a donor will wonder what eight million dollars bought him besides a deposition-flavored news cycle.
Reid Hoffman spent $8 million to be talked about, and Tom Tiffany made sure it was for the wrong thing.
Photo by on Unsplash
Leave a Comment