The Problem with Sanders’s Small Donors

Joe Biden’s entry into the Democratic primary sets up what looks to be an epic clash of septuagenarians, as he and Bernie Sanders battle for the nomination. It’s anybody guess who will wins — could be Joe, could be Bernie, could be one of the other 900,000 candidates — but it seems that these two see each other as the main contenders.
During his first 24 hours in the race, Biden raised more than $6 million, more than any other Democrat in the same time period. According to the New York Times, this was an important target for his campaign:
Mr. Biden’s team had viewed his early fund-raising as an important metric by which his nascent candidacy would be measured. His campaign sent multiple emails asking for donations on Thursday, his first day in the race, and he attended a high-dollar fund-raiser in the evening.
This number was slightly higher than Sanders’s $5.9 million haul, which was exactly the point.