Campaigns and Elections
I. Money Money is the mother’s milk of politics “Money is the mother’s milk of politics” Where does campaign money come from? ‣ P residential candidates get their money from private donors and part from the federal government ‣ C ongressional candidates get all of their money from private sources M oney must come out of their own pockets or be raised from individuals, interest groups (PACs), or political parties
Early Campaign Finance Laws ‣ The Watergate scandal caused changes into how campaign money is raised and spent
Buckley v. Valeo Buckley v. Valeo (1976) - The Supreme Court upheld federal limits on campaign contributions even as it ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech
The new law helped increase the amount of money spent on elections Today, there are more than 5,000 PACs ‣ S ince 2002, they have given over $300 million to congressional candidates in each election
‣ Still, PACs are not a dominate influence on candidates because they actually give very little
Today, most money for congressional candidates comes from individuals ‣ The limit before 2002 was $1,000 per election ‣ C andidates need to contact as many people as possible in order to get the most money possible
A candidate gets federal money to match, dollar for dollar, what he or she has raised in contributions of $250 or less ‣ Minor parties can get some federal money if the candidate won at least 5% of the vote in the previous election ‣ B oth Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan received some money in 1996
There were two problems with the 1973 law: ‣ Independent expenditures – spending by PACs, corporations, or labor unions that is done to help a party or candidate but is done independently of them ‣ S oft Money – Funds obtained by political parties that are spent on party activities, such as get-out-the-vote drives, but not on behalf of a specific candidate
After the 2000 campaign, a strong movement was developed in Congress to reform the reforms of the 1970s ‣ Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 (John McCain (R) -Russ Feingold (D)) B anned “soft money” contributions to national political parties from corporations and unions L imited individual contributions to $2,300 ((2007/2008) per election (up from $1,000) II ndependent expenditures were sharply restricted (McConnell v. Federal Elections Commission (2002), the Supreme Court upheld almost all of the law)
After the 2002 finance law, people found new ways to spend political money ‣ 527 Organizations – Organizations that, under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, raise and spend money to advance political causes
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission - January 21, 2010 The First Amendment prohibits government from placing limits on independent spending for political purposes by corporations and unions The 5–4 decision originated in a dispute over whether the non- profit corporation Citizens United could air a film critical of Hillary Clinton
In the general election for president, money doesn’t matter because both major party candidates have the same amount contributed by the federal government ‣ Elections are won by the 20% of voters who cannot be counted on to vote either Democratic or Republican ‣ I n good economic times, the party the holds the White House normally does well – “pocketbook vote”
‣ These factors do not make much of an impact in winning the presidency in the general election: Money VP candidate Political Reporting Religion Abortion
Party Identification is often the principal determinate of how people vote II.What Decides Elections ‣ If elections were solely determined by party identification, why don’t Democrats win every election? D emocrats are less firmly wedded to their party R epublicans do better among the “independent voters” epublicans vote
Issues, especially the economy make a difference ‣ There are two ways in which issues can affect elections: Prospective voting – voting for a candidate because you favor his or her ideas for handling issues R etrospective voting – voting for a candidate because you like his or her past actions in office
Campaigns can make a difference in three ways: ‣ R eawaken the partisan loyalties ‣ L et the voters see how candidates handle pressure ‣ A llow voters an opportunity to judge the character and core values of the candidates
Putting together a winning electoral coalition means holding on to your base among committed partisans and attracting the swing voters who cast their ballots in response to issues ‣ Who is loyal to which party?