1. 10.3 Paying for Election Campaigns
Civics and Economics

2. Running for Office
Campaigns convince the public to vote for a 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
Candidates or campaign workers travel through neighborhoods asking for votes, or taking polls

5. Canvassing
At the local level, candidates go door-to-door to solicit votes and hand out campaign literature; at the national level, campaigns 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
The idea behind endorsements is that if voters like the person making the endorsement they may decide to vote for the candidate
Andy Griffith, waving supported Beverly Perdue (in red) in the 2008 NC gubernatorial race

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

10. Campaign Expenses
Campaign expenses include TV commercials, travel expenses, salaries of campaign staff, fees to campaign consultants, and computer, telephone, postage, and printing costs
A small-town mayoral 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 (1971)
To place some controls on campaign financing:
Required public disclosure of spending
Limited hard money donations
Spending limits

12. Federal Election Campaign Act
Created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to administer election laws and monitor spending

13. Buckley v. Valeo
The government could set limits on campaign contributions to keep corruption out of elections

14. Public 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. Political Action Committees
(PACs) are organizations set up by interest groups to collect money to support candidates

17. Soft Money
Donations given to parties and not for a candidate’s campaign
There are no limits on these contributions
By law this money is used for general party-building purposes

18. The McCain-Feingold Act
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform 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 $2,500 per donor in each election; political parties can collect $25,000 per donor

19. New Law Upheld
McConnell v. FEC (2003) the McCain-Feingold Act is 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