August 27, 2004
The Quarter Billion Dollar Man
Whoever loses, it isn't for lack of money...
Both President Bush and John Kerry each took in nearly a quarter-billion dollars prior to their respective conventions, in an election that seems is being fought with everything but the kitchen sink, unless it's not bolted down.
With a half-billion on the table, the stakes are clearly high. This doesn't include national committee money, nor money given to 527 issues groups like moveon.org and Club For Growth. Another 527, the Swift Vets, have gotten the most bang for their buck, and with just a couple million dollars raised have dominated political headlines for weeks now.
McCain-Feingold was another well intentioned brick in the path to Hell. Many decried it as infringing on free speech, while others defended it as neccessary to clean up advertising and get the soft money out of politics. Well, it certainly hasn't infringed on free speech, at least so far, and surely hasn't cleaned up advertising and gotten the soft money out of politics. This should have been clearly visible to everyone working on the bill - the money they were attempting to shut out of the process wasn't going to simply disappear. As the blackout window for 527 ads approaches, we'll see how limiting that window is, or more likely, how it is evaded...
Whoever is elected will be the best President money can buy...
Posted by MEC2 at August 27, 2004 09:40 AM