You’d have to be living in a hut in Antarctica not to know the outcome of the U.S. Presidential race. Yet, when it comes to campaign finance in Election 2012, there are some interesting trends in terms of the winners and the losers that are less obvious. When campaign 2012 started, the big concern was [...]
There is the “ground war” in politics, where candidates campaign for grassroots support. Then there is the “air war,’’ which is measured by the number of television commercials a candidate has. There’s another dimension to campaign 2012. Let’s call it the “celebrity war.” Both President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney have a following among [...]
With the Presidential race entering the final stretch, it’s time to cycle back to where this column got started: Looking at the fundraising profiles of President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. Early predictions said that Campaign 2012 would break all records, and it has already. Early predictions said that Romney would benefit from a [...]
Much has been made about money going to candidates seeking public office this year. But what about money flowing in another direction – money coming from the candidates? Whether it is for local, state or federal office, a sizable number of very wealthy candidates are digging into their own pockets and funding their own campaigns. [...]
So much of the attention in campaign finance circles has been on the enormous sums being raised by the two Presidential candidates – a big-dollar arms race that is shattering all fundraising records, and leaving donors tapped out and exhausted as Election Day draws closer. Yet that’s not the only financial battleground in campaign 2012. [...]
Now that the political conventions are over and Election Day is less than nine weeks away, the money race has gone from high gear to warp speed. In 2008, President Barack Obama broke all money-raising records. This year, however, he is playing catch up to the formidable Republican campaign finance juggernaut. For voters in states [...]
Unless the Hurricane Isaac completely swamps the Republican national convention, the end of the summer is going to be marked by two Olympian events in the world of politics: The Democratic convention in Charlotte and the Republican convention in Tampa. There was a time, decades ago, when these quadrennial events actually provided political drama and [...]
Who wouldn’t want to have dinner in Geneva with George Clooney? Hard to imagine anything more glamorous. And that is what the Obama campaign is hoping will be a draw for Americans living overseas with cash to spare. The upcoming event, sponsored by “Americans Abroad for Obama” is looking for an entry price of $20,000 [...]
They are called “bundlers” and in the world of campaign finance, these are rich people with friends in high places. Bundlers are the “VIPs” of political campaigns: Once a wealthy of influential person hits the limits on personal contributions to their favorite presidential candidate and party, they can then turn to their equally rich friends [...]
