Issue 461 Political campaigns: Outside money November 13, 2014

Political campaigns are always annoying.  Candidates try to convince you that they are the best choice when we all know the truly intelligent people avoid political office in the first place.  But what many seem to not find fair is the money coming from outside the Candidates jurisdiction.  The money from other towns, corporations, and political parties that would not represent the constituents. Many see this as corruption, but as a political scientist (I have that silly Bachelor’s degree in this shell game called politics) it is in fact an equalizer.  I'll tell you what I mean.

Views on outside money:  As I said, money coming from say California to support a Congressional race in New York seems strange, out of place, and to many it is just plain wrong.  Likewise if the money comes from a corporation, a political party or an interest group, it is viewed with disgust and seen as corrupting the election.  However, this may not be 100% true.  In fact it may be giving the candidate running a more equal chance of talking to you the voter to plead their case as to why they should be elected over the other candidate.  You see, most elections are about money.  The candidate with more money or spends the most almost always wins save in certain circumstances.  This is because they can buy more exposure to the public.  In short, that candidate now has face recognition and thus you feel you know them.  The other candidate with less money will now typically lose due to being overshadowed.  However, with outside support the candidate who would have solely relied on money from local support now has an equal chance of success.  You see the money advantage can be eliminated with more money to buy a certain amount of face time to see the public, and have them hear the candidate speak.  So at some point, it will not matter how much the guy with more money spends as they will both have been in front of the public long enough to where they will both be recognized.  Sure, outside influences can potentially throw the election depending on the integrity of the candidate (something we ourselves evaluate at the voting booth), but it equalizes the chances of success so that someone new can be chosen.

Conclusion:  So there you have it.  Money coming in from all across the country is not a bad thing.  It instead becomes an equalizer in a political race so that people can choose the best candidate instead of being restricted to knowing only one candidate and knowing nothing about the other.  Yes, there may be corruption, and that no matter how many laws you put in place will never end save by electing candidates with integrity, but at least with outside money it increases your chance of finding a candidate with that integrity in the first place.