This weekend, the Booker campaign announced that if they don’t raise $1.7 million by the end of the month, they may just have to end it. So, was it a fundraising stunt or some refreshing transparency? Campaign manager Addisu Demissie says it’s the latter.

“The reality is that we are at an inflection point in the campaign,” Demissie said in a video posted on the campaign’s social platforms this weekend. “It’s really, really important that our campaign have the resources to invest in growing, and ultimately, you have to grow, you have to grow to stay competitive in this race. And ultimately, we’re not in a position to do that.”

The result has been national attention for the Booker camp and a record breaking 24-hour period, where roughly $500,000 has been contributed to the campaign, by this morning’s count.

A poll this weekend from the Des Moines Register finds that Booker is still polling in the low-single digits, sixth place among the other presidential hopefuls.

But Monmouth University Polling Institute director Patrick Murray says there are still reasons for the New Jersey senator to be optimistic.

“When you look down in that poll and they say, well, who are you considering, Cory Booker is one of those people they are considering, and so that’s why he’s trying to stay in this race. because things can change,” said Murray. “You can get a stumble from a front runner like Joe Biden, opens up room for people who were considering Cory Booker but don’t have them as their number one choice right now, so that he can slide in their and pick up that support.”

Booker campaign senior advisor Matt Klapper says they’re laying it bare with the fundraising plea.

“If we are to continue growing, which is fundamentally necessary to be truly competitive in this race, we need to hit this number,” he said. “and we decided that the best way not just to do that but to conduct this campaign through the lens of the values that Cory espouses every day is to be completely transparent with our supporters and with those who are considering supporting Cory Booker.”

Klapper says the $1.7 million would go toward increasing staffing in early voting states like New Hampshire and Iowa.

“What we saw over this past month were a few instances, where we came in under projection in our fundraising, so we moved from a budget that would allow us to grow, to one that would allow us to sustain, which is again not the path that Cory or anyone on our team really wants, we’re in this to win,” said Klapper.

Read more about Sen. Cory Booker as he continues his campaign to become the next president of the United States at The Booker Beat.