-
9. Obaba 2.0: Farewell to the Federal Campaign Finance System and the Secret Ballot?
- University of Illinois Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
chapter 9 Obama 2.0 Farewell to the Federal Campaign Finance System and the Secret Ballot? Paula Baker The massive cost of the presidential campaign and the way that candidates raised such astonishing amounts are among the less-celebrated “firsts” recorded in the 2008 elections. It was the most expensive presidential campaign ever: together, candidates John McCain and Barack Obama spent more than $1 billion. Include all of the candidates who fell away before the conventions and the figure rises to $2.4 billion. Everyone helped, but Obama’s campaign really propelled the great leap forward. He was the first candidate to finance his own general-election race since the system came online in 1974, therefore bypassing both the $84 million in federal funds and the restrictions that taking those funds imposes. Free to raise as much as possible, the Obama campaign brought in more than $750 million—more than the 2004 Kerry and Bush campaigns combined; more than triple the 2004 Bush campaign, the previous champ; and $400 million more than McCain ’s campaign, even after including the Republican National Committee’s help. The Obama organization was so flush that it was able to buy time from the major networks for a half-hour infomercial that ran right before the general election (delaying a World Series game, an incidental reminder that baseball is no longer the national pastime), expand the reach of its ads to include Xbox games, pay campaign workers’ salaries and health benefits through the end of December, and allow workers to keep their laptops. Another record breaker recorded by the Obama campaign was how much of the money came via the Internet. According to the campaign, about three million donors clicked on the “donate now” button, both when the news was good and especially when the opposition seemed to be gaining. Having clicked once, donors were never alone again.They could count on e-mail and text messages urging them to do more to participate in the cause by giving again. The button continued to beckon and the e-mails and texts persisted even after Obama’s victory, with the contributions and proceeds from the purchases of Obama-logoed T-shirts, posters, fleece scarves, and other gear directed to the Democratic National Committee. The reports of so many donors and success in raising money in small sums were enough to make traditional watchdogs roll over. Obama’s campaign had made an“extraordinary breakthrough in small donor fundraising on the Internet,”according to Fred Wertheimer, president and CEO of Democracy 21 and former president of Common Cause, two organizations long identified with campaign finance reform aimed at eliminating the influence of money on politics. No matter how staggering the sums spent and raised, Wertheimer saw “the pathway to the future” in the Obama campaign’s success in Internet fund-raising.1 The 2008 fund-raising feats, especially those of the Obama campaign, are certainly firsts. But are they “historic”—do they suggest breaks with past patterns and put us on “the pathway to the future”? As money kept flowing to Obama’s campaign, it was hard to escape the conclusion that the future will not look anything like the existing system of public financing for presidential campaigns. What candidate with even a shred of a chance of winning would again take public funds and risk being outspent by as much as four to one in swing states, as McCain was? But I’m at least as impressed with the continuities with past patterns as with most of the apparent changes. First, the next time we enjoy another round of campaign finance reform, it will be underpinned by partisan considerations, like all others in the past. Second, while the Obama campaign raised the bar on fund-raising and spending, that bar had been steadily rising, and the freakish circumstances of 2008 compelled massive fund-raising and spending. Third, the mix of small and large donations was not very different from that of campaigns past, especially those of candidates who came to embody a cause. Finally, while I consider Internet fund-raising as an update to direct mail—a technological refinement of earlier techniques aimed at raising small contributions—the Internet makes possible what I consider a worrisome result: the demise of the secret ballot, at least for those moved to contribute to a campaign. That could be historic, and not in a good way. The place to begin is with the taxpayer-funded campaign system. Created in 1971...