Self-Funded

The NY Times blog 538 had an interesting post about self-funded candidates, and here is the line that really caught my eye:

But individual contributions are often a good proxy for grass-roots support, and a candidate who bypasses the routine of building fund-raising networks may also miss an opportunity to build volunteer networks, which can be useful in motivating turnout. Moreover, self-financed candidates have had a fairly poor track record on Election Day in recent years. Ms. McMahon is an unusual candidate running an unusual campaign in an unusual cycle, so we’ll have to see how this all plays out.

I had never thought this way about self-funded candidates. It makes me think of Bloomberg's 2009 campaign in a whole new light and could be another way of understanding his relatively poor showing (and Thompson’s surprising competitiveness) in the 2009 elections. I had chalked it up to voter anger at Bloomberg, but this makes a little more sense - or at least adds another dimension.