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Campaign Finance

Started by R McCartney; Last updated by D Lim

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Campaign Finance

Beyond the poll numbers is an ongoing race to raise money

The 2008 Presidential Election is turning out to be the most expensive race in American history. Although it's not a top issue on anyone's platform, campaign finance is a driving force in almost every presidential hopeful's run for election. Bank balances are mentioned in the same breath as poll numbers and many candidates have dropped out for lack of funds in what FEC Chairman Michael Toner predicts will be a "$1 billion election."

Stories

Stories 21 - 40 of 143

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November 2008
- His Fundraising Machine Turns to Transition, Inaugural
  
  CNN | Nov 19, 08 1:26 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama is in fundraising mode again, this time for his transition and inauguration, CNN reports; many hope he will honor his promise to steer clear of special interests and big corporate donors. Though there is almost $10 million in public funds available for transition spending, experts say that’s insufficient. Obama cannot use leftover campaign funds for other purposes. More »
- Assaults on Our Freedom Come From Left and Right
  
  American Conservative | Nov 13, 08 1:07 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Those who blame the current administration for assaults on US constitutional freedoms should take a longer view, writes Alexander Cockburn in the American Conservative . “No doubt the conservatives who cheered Bush on as he abrogated ancient rights and stretched the powers of his office to unseen limits would have shrieked if a Democrat had taken such liberties,” but Bush’s actions are “acute symptoms of a chronic disease.” More »
- GOP Lawsuits Aim to Undo McCain-Feingold Reforms
  
  Washington Times | Nov 13, 08 11:30 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Republican Party, smarting over its defeat at the hands of Barack Obama’s fundraising machine, is suing to defang the campaign-finance bill John McCain sponsored, the Washington Times reports. Two suits to be filed today will challenge the legislation’s limits on so-called “soft money” and the parties’ ability to merge spending efforts with individual campaigns. More »
- Talk About Bad Timing...
  
  Washington Post | Nov 4, 08 10:11 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Just hours before Barack Obama announced that his grandmother had died, on the eve of the election, the California Republican Party filed a complaint against him for visiting her on his campaign’s dime, reports the Washington Post . The press release announcing the complaint may have been the worst-timed of any all year—but there was little time left in the campaign for it to backfire. More »
- Change Has Already Been Delivered—to Campaigning
  
  Wall Street Journal | Nov 3, 08 9:27 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - We can't be sure what kind of change the next president will bring, but we do know that presidential campaigns themselves will never be the same, writes Gerald F. Seib in the Wall Street Journal . Among this year’s innovations: The campaigns have redrawn the political map, making previously locked states competitive, like Virginia, and placing increasing emphasis on the Mountain West. More »
October 2008
- Nonprofit Workers Favor Dems
  
  Chronicle of Philanthropy | Oct 31, 08 8:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - People in the charitable world lean heavily Democrat and love Barack Obama, but try to keep their affiliation low-key to avoid insulting the other side, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. A new study shows that 88% of foundation worker donations went to Dems, enriching Obama's effort by $399,000 and John McCain's by $32,000. “There’s an overwhelmingly uniform personal ideology among this group,” said a director at the group doing the study. More »
- Best, Worst Financial Decisions of Candidates
  
  Politico | Oct 29, 08 4:29 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The next president faces the daunting task of fixing a crippled economy—all the more reason to look at the candidates' best and worst financial decisions during the campaigns. Politico's Jeanne Cummings does the tally: Obama's Best: His decision to hire Facebook's founder, whose interactive Internet fundraising included billboards in online games. More »
- Obama Donors Get to Hang With the Big Kids
  
  Politico | Oct 29, 08 2:18 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama’s money machine has kept rolling thanks, in part, to a series of intimate fundraisers headlined by his top advisers, Politico reports. In exchange for a mere $28,500, Obama supporters could snag seats at a dinner with Warren Buffett or a “Round Table Discussion” with Robert Rubin. Slimmer wallets could attend a reception with John Kerry for as low as $250. More »
- Obama's Haul Spurs Concern About Faceless Donors
  
  Washington Post | Oct 26, 08 1:48 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The huge success of Barack Obama’s Internet fundraising campaign has sparked concerns about the regulation of campaign finance. Some worry that the faceless system allows for easy abuse, particularly in light of donations from anonymous or clearly fake names such as "Osama bin Laden," the Washington Post reports. Dangerous or not, though, Obama’s fundraising has likely become a model for future campaigns. More »
- Makeup Artist Highest Paid McCain Campaign Staffer
  
  New York Times | Oct 24, 08 10:50 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - While no more Saks and Barney's charges have surfaced, records for the first 2 weeks of October indicate that Sarah Palin's makeup artist was the highest paid individual contributor to the McCain campaign effort, pulling in $23,000. Amy Strozzi easily beat out McCain's foreign policy adviser (just $12,500) and senior communications staffer ($12,000), reports the New York Times . More »
- Small Print Lets Donors Write Big Checks
  
  New York Times | Oct 21, 08 12:38 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama’s small donors have grabbed the headlines this election, but the latest campaign finance reports reveal that big donors have been playing their biggest role in ages, the New York Times reports. Both candidates have used joint committees, which raise money for both the candidates and their parties, to subvert the $2,300 individual donation limit, allowing donors to give tens of thousands with one check. More »
- Robocalls Are Legit: McCain
  
  Politico | Oct 19, 08 1:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - John McCain defended his use of robocalls on Fox News Sunday, arguing his attacks on Barack Obama are different from the slanderous calls that targeted him during the 2000 primaries, Politico reports. “These are legitimate and truthful and they are far different than the phone calls that were made about my family,” he said. On other talk shows: Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich told This Week with George Stephanopoulos that Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama “eliminated the experience argument." More »
- Obama Shatters Records With $150M Sept.
  
  Wall Street Journal | Oct 19, 08 8:49 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama scored $150 million in September, he said today, a monthly record that brings his fundraising total to another record topping $600 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. The previous monthly record was Obama’s $66 million in August. Those figures give the Democrat a big leg up in TV advertising in battleground and typically red states. More »
- Obama Ad Blitz Stifles McCain
  
  Politico | Oct 15, 08 1:51 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Over the past three weeks, Northern Virginia TV viewers have seen 1,342 commercials from Barack Obama … and eight from John McCain. Obama is dominating the airwaves, Politico reports, outspending McCain and the Republican National Committee as much as 8-1 in some markets, blunting GOP attacks with a sustained presence. “McCain is virtually invisible in the commercial breaks,” said one station executive. More »
- Obama Got $40K From Fake People
  
  New York Times | Oct 10, 08 10:00 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama received some $40,000 from obviously fictitious donors, the New York Times reports. After poring over both candidates’ records, the Times found some 3,000 donations to Obama from more than a dozen people with obviously falsified names —like “Test Person” from “Some Place, UT.” McCain had such donors as well, but far fewer than Obama. More »
- Obama Ordered to Return Illegal Donations
  
  Newsweek | Oct 6, 08 5:02 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama’s record-breaking $485-million war chest includes a number of small, illegal donations that federal officials have ordered the campaign to return, reports Newsweek . The GOP has requested a federal investigation into Obama’s campaign finances, the Washington Post writes. Roughly half of Obama's funds have been raised through donations of $200 or less, which are exempt from disclosure regulations. The system can be manipulated by determined contributors. More »
- Mac's Road to 270 Electoral Votes Looks Hard
  
  Boston Globe | Oct 4, 08 3:09 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - John McCain's path to Pennsylvania Avenue is forcing him to go through states where he is either tied or losing in the polls, the Boston Globe reports. Not only did he pull out of Michigan, McCain is struggling in eight states President Bush won that hold 101 electoral votes. “The fact that states like Indiana and Missouri are still on the table spells trouble for McCain,” said one pundit. More »
September 2008
- Goldman Sachs Is DC's Top Sugar Daddy
  
  ABC News | Sep 26, 08 2:20 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Goldman Sachs has given Washington plenty of reasons to help it out—43 million reasons, to be precise. Goldman bankers have been the nation’s biggest campaign contributors this year, and have poured more than $43 million into lobbying and campaign war chests since 1989, ABC News reports. “They are almost in a class by themselves,” one analyst said. More »
- Virginians Pour Record Dollars Into Election
  
  Washington Post | Sep 22, 08 9:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - With their home state up for grabs for the first time in decades, Virginians—particularly Democrats from the northern part of the state—are pouring money into the presidential race, the Washington Post reports. Thus far, locals have given a record $25.3 million to various candidates throughout the election cycle; that's twice as much as they anted up in 2004. More »
- McCain Camp Strives to Skirt McCain-Feingold
  
  New York Times | Sep 20, 08 7:03 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - John McCain is making a concerted effort to get around the campaign finance laws he championed, the New York Times reports. A lawyer who played a key role in defending the reform act known as McCain-Feingold from challenges is now on the McCain team, expertly advising on the loopholes through which the candidate can rake in the kind of unregulated large contributions the act sought to clamp down on. More »

Stories 21 - 40 of 143

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Fred Thompson Supports McCain/Feingold Campaign Finance (springfield3100 (YouTube))

Rudy Giuliani on campaign finance reform (giulianirecord (YouTube))

Romney on Campaign Finance Reform (GovMittRomney (YouTube))

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Related Threads

Election 2008 • Obama 2008 • McCain 2008 • Clinton-Obama Tussle • Clinton 2008 • Obama Rakes It In • The Hillary Endgame • A House Divided • A New York President? • Politics As Usual

Background

Wikipedia Entry for Campaign Finance
Wikipedia

Campaign finance refers to the means by which money is raised for election campaigns. As campaigns have many expenditures, ranging from the cost of travel for the candidate and others to the purchasing of air time for TV advertisements, candidates often spend a great deal of time and effort raising...

» Read more about Wikipedia Entry for Campaign Finance at Wikipedia

Recommended Reading

Campaign Finance

Campaign Finance Reports and Data
Federal Election Commission

Public Policy Inquiry Campaign Finance
Hoover Instituition

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