Money and Political Campaigns

¶ … Financial Aspect of Political Elections Today

Money is a central element in the contemporary society and political election contests make no exception from the rule. Candidates and their teams need a great deal of resources in order to be able to put across their message to the masses. While this might seem immoral to a certain degree, the fact that it has been done so for ages means that the general public is typically accepting of the practice. Regardless of how good a person would be for public office, as long as he or she does not have the resources needed to connect with the masses it can be difficult and almost impossible for them to succeed in their endeavor.

The current presidential elections in the U.S. is perhaps one of the best examples of money being pumped into political campaigns in order for candidates and their teams to attempt to influence the public's opinion. It appears that there is a trend in recent years regarding the amounts of money being invested in presidential campaigns.

Political action committees are in charge of gathering funds from a series of bodies such as individuals and companies. They are then tasked with the mission to use the money either in order to promote the candidate they are associated with or to attack the respective person's opponents. The U.S. federal government stipulates that an organization becomes a political action committee at the time when it receives or spends $2,600 with the intention of influencing a federal election. Super Pacs are a more complex type of a political action committee, as they have more authority over voters and likely have much more resources. There is no legal limit to the donations going into Super Pacs, thus making them a particularly powerful form of campaigning. Furthermore, the funds going into these organizations can come from a wide range of environments. "Hundreds of millions of dollars were raised by Super PACs and other outside interests to persuade voters. The vast majority of money came from committees and organizations controlled by the Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who were intent on defeating Obama." (Johnson, 221)

When considering conditions today, it would be safe to say that it would be extremely difficult for a person wanting to run for president of the U.S. to win the elections without receiving significant financial support in his or her campaign. The reality is that politics is similar to a game and this game came to be severely influenced by material values during recent years. It is basically as if resources are not only a means to persuade the masses to vote with a particular candidate, as someone wanting to address groups that would support him or her cannot possibly reach out to these respective groups without having the financial resources to do so. Sending a message can occur through a wide range of channels, ranging from newspapers ads to huge billboards and rock concerts. All things considered, each one of these channels needs financial backing in order to be efficient. A political candidate cannot possibly be strong if he or she does not have a great deal of financial resources in order to be able to support his or her campaign. As a consequence, even though it is morally wrong, campaigning requires money and until a more ethical way of promoting political candidates is found things are likely to stay the same.