1. Goal 4- Paying for Election Campaigns Chapter (10.3)

2. Running for Office The purpose of campaigns is to convince the public to vote for a particular candidate; once nominated candidates spend months campaigning Each campaign has a campaign organization to help run the campaign; local candidates have a few workers, Presidential campaigns have thousands

3. Running for Office Campaign workers acquaint voters with the candidate ’ s name, face, positions on issues, and convince voters to like and trust their candidate

4. Canvassing When candidates or campaign workers travel through neighborhoods asking for votes, or taking public opinion polls they are canvassing

5. Canvassing At the local level, candidates often go door- to-door to solicit votes and hand out campaign literature; at the national level, campaign organizations conduct frequent polls to find out how their candidate is doing

6. Endorsements When a famous and popular person supports or campaigns for a candidate, it is an endorsement The idea behind endorsements is that if voters like the person making the endorsement they may decide to vote for the candidate

7. Endorsements Endorsements are a propaganda technique Propaganda= an attempt to promote a particular person or idea Candidates use propaganda techniques to try to persuade or influence voters to choose them over another candidate

8. Advertising and Image Molding Political advertisements allow a party to present only its candidate ’ s position or point of view They also enable a candidate to attack an opponent without an opportunity to respond

9. Advertising and Image Molding Candidates for local election may use newspaper advertisements or posters; state and national candidates spend a great deal of money advertising on television ELECTION CAMPAINGING IS VERY EXPENSIVE!!!!

10. Campaign Expenses Campaign expenses include TV commercials, airfare and transportation, salaries of campaign staff, fees to campaign consultants, and computer, telephone, postage, and printing costs A small-town mayor’s race may cost only a few hundred or thousand dollars; a state legislative or congressional race may cost several hundred thousand or more, presidential races can cost hundreds of millions of dollars

11. Federal Election Campaign Act In 1971, Congress passed the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) to place some controls on campaign financing The law required public disclosure of each candidates spending, it limited the amount of hard money individuals or groups could donate directly to a candidate or a political party and limited how much they could spend

12. Federal Election Campaign Act It created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) an independent agency of the executive branch to administer all federal election laws and monitor campaign spending

13. Federal Election Campaign Act The Supreme Court ruled in Buckley v. Valeo that the government could set limits on campaign contributions to keep corruption out of elections

14. Public vs. Private Funding The Presidential Election Campaign Fund allows taxpayers to designate $3 of their taxes to go to public funding for candidates Major-party presidential candidates can qualify to get some of this money to campaign in primary elections if they have raised $100,000 on their own

15. Public Funding After the national conventions, the two major-party candidates receive equal shares of money, as long as they agree not to accept any other direct contributions Third Party candidates can also qualify for this funding if their party received more than 5 percent of the popular vote in the previous election

16. Soft Money and PACS Political Action Committees (PACs) are organizations set up by interest groups to collect money to support favored candidates Side note: in return these interests groups will expect your support

17. Soft Money and PACS Donations given to political parties and not designed for a particular candidate ’ s election campaign are called soft money; by law this money is used for general party-building purposes and there are no limits on these contributions

18. Campaign Reform The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act- also known as the McCain-Feingold Act prohibits political parties, federal officeholders, and candidates from raising soft money Corporations, unions and interest groups are banned from running ads aimed at a candidate for federal office within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary It raises limits on contributions, stating candidates may collect up to $2,000 per donor in each election; political parties can collect $25,000 per donor

19. New Law Upheld In McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (2003) the Supreme Court upheld all the major provisions of the McCain-Feingold Act as constitutional

20. Looking to the Future Candidates now want to get many small donations rather than a few large ones; as a result, the internet will play a larger role in political fundraising