1. ELECTION SPEAK *Air war *Lame duck *Lobbyists *Mudslinging *Attack ads *Swing states, swing voters *Spin *Super PACs

2. 19. Goals of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974 *Background of its creation -- stemmed from the Watergate scandal under Nixon *Nixon re-election campaign used and misused unaccounted funds for various purposes *Full blown scandal which led to Nixon’s resignation in 1974 *Several crimes in the investigation, but notable was the ease in which funds were raised, spent, and unaccounted for

3. 2 Goals of the FEC 1.To tighten reporting requirements for money contributed to a campaign or candidate 2.To limit expenditures by the campaigns and candidates *Create accountability and “paper trail” of $$$ in and $$$ out of a campaign

4. 20. Function of the FEC *Federal Election Commission (FEC) is a 6 member body (3 Dems, 3 Reps) that oversees the campaign laws passed by Congress *FEC enforces campaign laws -- investigates claims and allegations, issues fines, and makes rulings on charges

5. 21. Federal Election Campaign Fund *Provides federal tax payer money to fund presidential campaigns -- both primary/caucuses and general elections *Only candidates in presidential campaigns receive the federal money

6. 22. Matching funds in the presidential race *For every $1 raised by the candidate, the federal fund will match it by a $1 *Certain qualifications must be met -- example: In the primaries, $5000 must be raised in 20 different states -- very easy for the 2 major party candidates *In general election, millions of $$$ may be matched

7. Implications of campaign matching funds *If candidate agrees to matching funds, candidate must limit what they raise and spend -- 2008 election, limit and match was $85 million per candidate *If a candidate does not want the matching $$$, the “sky is the limit” on fund raising -- 2012 election Obama and Romney both chose not to receive the matching funds

8. 2012 Presidential Election *Both candidates combined raised and spent about $1 billion dollars

9. What will the 2016 cycle look like?

10. 23. Buckley v. Valeo, 1976 *Law was passed in 1974 legislation that placed a limit on how much $$ a candidate could spend of their own money on their own campaign *Supreme Court overturned the law, claiming that a person’s own money is an extension of free speech and government may not limit speech in this manner

11. 24. Soft money v. hard money *Hard money is a contribution given directly to a candidate’s campaign -- always limited *Soft money was a contribution given to the national party -- was unlimited -- $$$ was then funneled to the candidates in congressional, senatorial, and presidential campaigns -- an indirect contribution

12. Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) or McCain-Feingold Act *Passed in 2002 and signed by President Bush *First major reform since 1974 *Banned soft money *Ended (temporarily) campaign ads run by groups, corporations, or labor groups within 60 days of an election

13. Citizens United v. FEC, 2010 *Overturned the ban on individual groups, corporations, or labor unions creating political ads and running those ads during the campaign *Thus, creating the 527 groups, better known as “super PACs”

14. Super PACs *527 groups known by the number in the tax code *May raise as much money and spend as much money on an ad - - as long as there is no coordination with any candidate or campaign of the parties