Hey, it worked for Cory Booker. Just a month ago, Booker sounded the alarm to his supporters – send him $1.7 million in nine days or his campaign would be kaput. He met his deadline and now Julian Castro is making the same plea. Castro needs $800,000 within the next 10 days to keep his campaign afloat. That sounds like a bargain compared to Booker’s goal.

Let’s be honest here, Julian Castro is not going to be the Democrat nominee for president in 2020. He’s only registering at 0.6 at Real Clear Politics. That puts him ahead of only three others – Tim Ryan, Marianne Williamson, and Steve Bullock. Of the first four contests, Castro only registers in two states – Nevada and South Carolina. In both of those states, he registers at .5. So, at this point, he’s really only hoping to stay in for long enough to be considered as the choice for vice-president.

Nonetheless, Julian persists. He needs to find some supporters who are willing to toss some donations into the dumpster fire that is his campaign. The clock is ticking.

“If I can’t raise $800,000 in the next 10 days, I will have no choice but to end my race for president,” Castro’s campaign wrote in an email to supporters. “I’m asking you to fight for me like never before. If I don’t meet this deadline, I won’t have the resources to keep my campaign running.”

Castro has not qualified for the November Democrat debate. He has until November 13 to meet the polling requirement, which is at a higher threshold than previous debates. The November debate threshold requires a candidate to register 3 percent in four approved polls to qualify. At this rate, Castro would be lucky to break 1 percent, let alone 3 percent. His campaign acknowledges that if he fails to earn a place on the debate stage, his campaign is toast. More money is needed for greater outreach on the campaign trail in the form of advertising seems to be the message.

Maya Rupert, Castro’s campaign manager, referred to the money shortage as the campaign’s biggest challenge yet.

“Unfortunately, we do not see a path to victory that doesn’t include making the November debate stage, and without a significant uptick in our fundraising, we cannot make that debate,” she said in a statement.

His best fundraising efforts are not enough to surpass the money raised by the top tier candidates. He is really low on cash for a national campaign.

Castro last week reported his best fundraising quarter thus far: $3.5 million. But it fell well short of what those in a higher tier of the race brought in: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ($25.3 million); Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren ($24.6 million); South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg ($19.1 million); and former Vice President Joe Biden ($15.2 million.)

Castro, who has kept a full travel schedule, also reported sinking perilously low in available campaign cash — to $675,000 Oct. 1.

Cory Booker’s campaign received about half of the donations needed for his campaign to continue within the first two days after his plea went out. In the case of Castro, his campaign spokesman said the first day’s fundraising goal was met. He didn’t, however, say exactly the amount of that goal. Sawyer Hackett said the money will be needed to help with the efforts to meet the polling requirement, like organizing in early states.

“Organizing, TV advertising, digital advertising, being able to pay to go to these candidate forums and have a presence at these statewide events — all of that,” Hackett said.

“The problem is that there’s no path to victory without making the debate stage.”

The campaign may not be releasing actual numbers yet but within 24 hours, some influential like-minded leftist heavy hitters weighed in.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a first-term New York Democrat with a wide following, tweeted that Castro “is a powerful presence in this race.”

Ocasio-Cortez — who endorsed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders over the weekend — said that Castro “consistently uses his platform to uplift & center issues that are wrongly marginalized, like homelessness and police violence.”

Adrian Reyna, strategy director for United We Dream, which bills itself as the nation’s largest immigrant youth network, said he had sent his contribution.

“It is imperative that his voice is present in this election. Julián Castro is the only candidate who keeps it real on immigration (also only Latinx in the running) — so square up and donate!”

Comedian Abby Govindan told her 52,000 Twitter followers that Castro “worked hard to get a seat at the table so that people like him wouldn’t have it as hard. He is the American Dream. Even if he’s not your first choice please donate to keep him in the race. We need his voice. He has consistently centered police violence, poor people, people of color and trans people in a way that many frontrunners have failed to do.”

Similarly, the Human Rights Campaign’s Charlotte Clymer wrote that Castro’s “outreach, empathy, and commitment have made him an invaluable part of this process. I’m not endorsing anyone yet, but Castro deserves to stay in this race.”

They may not be supporting him with their own votes but they think Castro is needed in the race because he fights, or something. Most of this has to do with the fact that Castro is the only Latino running and his immigration policy is popular with the open borders crowd. Now we wait and see if Castro makes his own deadline. It’s time to thin the herd of candidates and he may be the next one to go.

I’m extremely proud of the historic and bold campaign we have built together.

But this is a critical moment— if my campaign can’t raise $800,000 by October 31st, my campaign will be silenced for good. Help us keep up the fight.

DONATE now: https://t.co/CZKqZ7uYHM pic.twitter.com/opXiNoDn3I

— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) October 21, 2019