Campaign Finance Essay
Elections have become auctions. The candidate with the most amount of money will win the position, regardless of their qualifications or previous experience. This statement is true for most, if not all elections. There has to be action taken to prevent candidates from “buying” their way into office. Only then will our political system work the way it is supposed to and people will truly care about the government.
The amount of money spent on elections currently is absurd. The federal elections monetarily equated to over $3 billion in 2000, with tens, perhaps hundreds of millions in additional cash spent by interest groups and state and local party organizations. This amount has nearly doubled the 1992 total. Together, the House of Representatives and Senate candidates had spent just under a billion dollars in 2000, which is up 30 percent from 1996. On average, the winning parties spent about $900,000 in 2000; this is nearly double the 1992 figure. A Senate seat cost the average candidate between $7 and $8 million in 2000, up nearly 60 percent from 1996. As a result of the high price tag on these elections senators interested in serving another term have to raise $5,500 each day they are in office, while House members must raise $1,500 each day. Theoretically, any person that fits the constitutional qualifications is able to run for Congress. However, money has taken over elections so much so that there are now laws of modern finance.
There are three laws of campaign finance that govern all funds being used in the electoral process. First, Incumbent members of Congress nearly always receive more money than their challengers. As a result, incumbents usually get reelected. Second, the challengers are able to defeat incumbents only when they raise something close to the totals raised by the incumbent or the incumbent is very unlucky, openly corrupt, or very stupid. While this is rare, it happens often enough to prompt incumbents to defend themselves by raising more and more money. Third, the congressional campaigns that are really unpredictable are the open-seat contests where incumbents have retired. These are usually the most expensive races, and there are more of them than there used to be. The money and the campaign laws are more in control of the elections than the people are or will ever be if things do not change.