Transcript 10.3 Paying for Election Campaigns

Goal 4- Paying for Election Campaigns
Chapter (10.3)
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
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
Canvassing
 When candidates or campaign workers travel
through neighborhoods asking for votes, or taking
public opinion polls they are canvassing
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
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
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
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
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!!!!
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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