Email of the Week (v8)

Thursday is 'Email of the Week' day, when I plow through a hundred or so emails from the handful of Democratic presidential candidates I'm following to see what's going on.

So, after having added Tom Steyer, Deval Patrick and Mike Bloomberg to the rolls, I got 156 emails, but the newcomers only accounted for 15 of them. Mayor Pete continues to lead the pack in terms of emails sent, with Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar not far behind. Tom Steyer has yet to ask me for anything.

As we're nearing the end of the month, and the candidates are now facing monthly FEC disclosures, a couple of them told me, and because the Iowa caucuses are next week, it's hot and heavy in the money grab category.  

What's interesting is that the candidates are all setting ridiculous goals - a million by Friday, three million by the end of the week, that kind of thing -  and some are having trouble meeting them - so I wonder about this whole 'shooting yourself in the foot to keep up with the Joneses' thing.

So, what was noteworthy this week? 

• Sanders threw three of the Squad members at us in one email, and he's already focused on NY's April primary; 
• Mayor Pete went on Fox News for a town hall, the only one to do so, I guess;
• Deval Patrick got an endorsement from a NH State Senator; and
• Andrew Yang qualified for the February debate, after missing the January one - maybe the best news of the week.

There were a few emails that were in the running for this weeks' prize, including one from Mayor Pete touting polls showing while he's running slightly behind That Guy From Vermont in New Hampshire, he beats Trump by a larger margin than any of the rest of them. 

Amy Klobuchar is gaining momentum and endorsements, and she told us she's the only debate-worthy candidate who has visited every one of Iowa's 99 counties. 

But this week, because I'm feeling frisky, I'm going with Bloomberg. 

I know -- he's poison, he's killing the process, he's doing it all wrong: I get that. But I'm going to give it to him, anyway - because he's willing to put his own money where his mouth is - even if no one likes that he's doing it - and because I'm curious about how he's doing what he's doing.  Skipping the early states, particularly the two very non-diverse, small states that have always had an outsized impact on who gets elected, is an intriguing approach, and one that's different from Steyer, the other billionaire in the race. 

So, here it is, our coveted Email of the Week.

See you  next week.