Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Romney Raises $170 Million to Finance Final Push
In the New York Times'article, Romney Raises $170 Million to Finance Final Push, Ashley Parker and Nicholas Confessore hilight that $170 Million was raised in September by Mitt Romney and the Republican party. Unfortunately, $170 Million was not enough money and more is needed in October. With the election getting closer and closer, Mitt Romney hopes that extra campaigning in Florida and Ohio will help him win these swing states. I am eager to see how this election will pan out as it is getting much more interesting. This election, in my opinion, may eventually become a photo finish.
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I agree that the money spent on political campaigns is mind blowing, but it is unavoidable because so many are moderate/independent and uniformed on politics. If people were truly actice and good citizens, political advertisment would have zero impact because people's view would be determined not by sound bites or 30 second blurbs, but by legitimate governing ethical principles on how individuals and society should operate.
ReplyDeleteI too find the large sums of money spent on political campaigns frustrating. Imagine how much different the America would be if that money was spent on improving the state of our nation's economy. However, the practice of fundraising has become unavoidable. It seems to me that elections today sometimes turn into a competition over money. Even if that is not the candidate's primary concern, they put a good amount of time and effort into raising money. Ideally, campaigns would be solely about the issues, but with advertising the way it is today, this is not the case.
ReplyDeleteIt is tempting to blame the people in charge of campaign finances for squandering millions of dollars on ads alone. However, the reality is that studies have proven that people will listen and respond to these ads. Because the majority of potential voters do not go out of their way to seek information about each candidate, the candidates must come to the people. Ads are a convenient way of broadcasting political updates to the general public. Without ads, "Joe Six-Pack" would have very limited knowledge of the progression of the campaign.
ReplyDeleteWith the race tightening and Romney being sightly behind Obama,I think it is very for Romney and the Republican party to everything they can to get more supporters. The more money Romney gets, the better chance he could have at winning the election.
ReplyDeleteAs ridiculous as the amounts seem, I agree that this heavy spending has become necessary to get enough adds out to reach people. As Kira said, the majority of people lack the motivation to seek out information. The sad fact of the matter is that people are more responsive to the tiny sound bites that Grace mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Liz and Kira. It seems ridiculous that politicians spend so much money on ad's but they might be the only thing that some people see to obtain information. Commercials and ads do have impacts on peoples views and opinions because many people are uninformed and ignorant to politics.
ReplyDeleteI think its weird that we, as a nation, are so deeply in debt and yet we can spend millions of dollars on getting a president elected. Couldn't we just put that money towards solving the deficit? Its not much, but it would be a start.
ReplyDeleteI could not have said it any better myself. Why waste millions of dollars to showcase your candidate like a show horse or sling mud on the other only to have your candidate lose my a large margin. Now there goes those millions of dollars that could have been pumped back into the economy and help continue the slow recovery of it. I mean that deficit isn't getting any lower by buying loads of advertising for 30 second ad clips.
DeleteThese numbers do seem ridiculous at face value but the parties need these sums in order to try and enrage a new voter and turn a potential non-voter into someone who will repeatedly vote for their party because they buy in to the propaganda.
ReplyDeleteWhile these numbers are exorbitantly high, the country holds few strong Democrats or strong Republicans in comparison to the huge number of independents or moderates. These funds are necessary in efforts to sway a big portion of the population and really influence the people who do not take the time to research/pay attention to the campaign themselves.
ReplyDeleteWith such close numbers between the parties, it is extremely important that Mitt Romney and the Republican party must be able to rally more supporters in order to get the lead. I completely agree with Aaron that all the money used to help elect a president should be used to help solve the defecit instead.
ReplyDeleteI find the amount of money that these men can raise in a month to be astounding. Good for them though. I hope they put it to good use, and maybe the advertising will help one or the other. I agree with Amanda and Aaron though, that any money that is not used should definitely go toward reducing the deficit. Every little bit counts and this would probably give people hope as well, and that would be a welcome thing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amanda's statement. One may think that at this point in the presidential campaign every American citizen who plans to vote this year has made his or her decision. How could a late surge of advertisement truly affect the election? In another example of a presidential campaign, this statement may be true that there would not be a significant change to the outcome of the election this late in the process, but since the presidential candidates are almost neck and neck in this race, it is a smart move made by Romney to push the advertising in these last crucial days before the election.
ReplyDeleteIt really is crazy how much money is being raised for the presidential campaign, but it's necessary to get messages across to the public. Each candidate has no control over how much is donated to his or her campaign. The fact that Romney raised an extra 170 million could be extremely beneficial to him if he uses it in the battleground states.
ReplyDeleteI think the amount of money spent on these campaigns is absurd. I also agree with Grace in that the money shouldn't matter. Commercials on t.v. should not be able to swing a person's vote. One's vote should be based on their views on their social and economical and whatever else's beliefs. This money could swing him a few votes here and there, but it really shouldn't make that much of a difference what one commercial says.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely a ridiculously pricey sum however the results of the election are heavily weighted on the swing states, Florida and Ohio. It's unfortunate to see how much advertisements do effect our society's opinion but it is important to note that they do. Increasing visibility and for those on the fence, getting your viewpoints out there is crucial for Romney if he wants to stand a chance.
ReplyDeleteThe candidates spent so much money, and they only focused on campaigning and advertising in a few states. This election turned into one of the most if not the most expensive election this country has ever had. When the election came down to the wire, there would be commercial after commercial after commercial on television. When is it that maybe the campaigning is getting out of hand? These billions of dollars could be going to lowering the monstrous deficit that our country has!
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