Thursday, October 6, 2016
In country's most expensive Senate race, Pat Toomey, Katie McGinty each raise $5 million more
Another article from the Philadelphia Inquirer, this one examines the Senate race between Pat Toomey and Katie McGinty. They're spending ridiculous amounts of money on their campaigns, making it the most expensive Senate race in history at about $81 million. Although it's a short article, it's very concise and informative if you've been following the campaigns! Do you think the amount spent is absurd?
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I have not been following the PA Senate Campaigns. I am very surprised that Toomey and McGinty are spending as much money as they are. Besides it being a close race and they are coming into the home stretch I don't know what else could be their reasoning for obtaining so much money for their campaigns.
ReplyDeleteI do think that the money spent is absurd. The tV was on when I was in the doctor's and the Toomey/McGinty commercials alternated for the entire time. The amount they've sent is excessive, but they're desperate to win.
ReplyDeleteWhile they are spending a lot of money, I do not think it is absurd. In such a close race, it is unsurprising that more and more money is being spent in an effort to secure a win. As one person increases their spending, the other must increase theirs too in order to remain competitive.
ReplyDeleteWhile it's pretty surprising that so much money has been spent on the Senate race, I feel like that's the name of the game now. I would like to know how much of this money has come from individual donors as opposed to super PACs and interest groups. Also, the article states that together the candidates have put in about 20 million dollars of their own money. While I'm not opposed to the idea of politicians being wealthy from other activities (ex. Senator Toomey's involvement with banks), it is alarming that every candidate nowadays seems to be superrich. These people surely are not representative of most Pennsylvanians or Americans.
ReplyDeleteI think the amount of money spent on attack ads and pamphlets is ridiculous. I also find it alarming that both of these candidates from our home state have such strong ties to super PACs. Apart from the fact that I'm dissatisfied with both of these candidates, it's scary to see the real power of money up close.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's absolutely crazy that these people are spending so much money on their campaigns, but not exactly surprising. I agree with others in saying that it's alarming that candidates today are so rich and are using millions of dollars of their own money in campaigns, which definitely isn't representative of the wealth of an average American. It's pretty surprising to me that the Pennsylvanians are spending so much more money than people from other states, wow!
ReplyDeleteI've been seeing these 5 million dollars at work for the past couple weeks. My days of CNN and Coffee are ruled by Katie and Toomey ads that are absolutely tired by now, and honestly this is the worst use of 5 million I've seen in a while.
ReplyDeleteOn tv whenever there is a commercial break, I see nonstop ads bashing both senate candidates. I really don't understand why they are spending so much money on ads like these. However, maybe it was done for that exact reason. I have noticed these ads on tv and it has sparked interest in me to pay more attention to the senate race. While it may be absurd, it is bringing attention to the PA senate race and maybe that is what the candidates want.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been following the Senate race, but I have seen the commercials each canadiate has released about the other. I think the amount of money that is being spent on this Senate race is surprising. $81 million dollars seems a little excessive for a Senate race. I also agree that it is surprising that candidates today are wealthy, and that this doesn't represent the majority of the people in Pennsylvania.
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ReplyDeleteI don't think the amount of money spent is absurd. It's getting to notable amounts of donation, but each candidate believes this election is crucial. It shows how important the situation is to each candidate, and actually highlights some of the political polarization we talked about earlier. In a way, it's a good sign that there are so many donations because it shows that people care enough, but it's also bad because either way, someone's going to lose and a lot of people will be very unhappy.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the amount of money spent is absurd. It's getting to notable amounts of donation, but each candidate believes this election is crucial. It shows how important the situation is to each candidate, and actually highlights some of the political polarization we talked about earlier. In a way, it's a good sign that there are so many donations because it shows that people care enough, but it's also bad because either way, someone's going to lose and a lot of people will be very unhappy.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been following the Senate race closely but have seen numerous ads from both candidates. It makes sense that they're both spending such an impressive amount of money considering how close the race is. I hope to learn more about both candidates and follow the race more closely from now on.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that too much money is being used in these campaigns. I see these ads all over the place and have honestly began to just tune them out at this point. In light of the presidential campaign, I have not been paying too much attention to the senate election. However, the ads do bring attention to the race and therefore may be actually important.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty surprised they are raising and spending so much money. Where is all of that money going? The article states that, "outside groups have spent roughly $61 million supporting or attacking Toomey and McGinty." I find that this amount of spending is absolutely incredulous . A lot of this money is being used in back-and-forth ad campaigns. For example, McGinty will try to take down Toomey with allegations about his connections with the NRA and then Toomey will return back with a campaign ad featuring Gabby Giffords (shot in front of supermarket) stating that she supports him and his gun ideas. This is just one example but there have been numerous back and forths between the two. I find the spending to be outrageously unnecessary and inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteI laughed because when I clicked on the link to this article, an ad popped up on the Philadelphia Inquirer, covering the screen, with a picture in big letters titled "Shadey Katie McGinty" to further show the extent of advertising for this campaign. Although I haven't been following the Senate race, I have seen numerous ads and commercials similar to this one & although $80 million is a large amount of money to be spending on advertising, I don't think it's necessarily absurd.
ReplyDeleteDue to the amount of advertisements I have seen in regard to this Senate race, I'm not suprised at the amount of money spent on these campaigns. It's a little absurd that his insane amount of money has been spent, but at the same time the race is so close so McGinty and Tomey are both just trying to spend more and more money in hopes of getting ahead. This campaign has just been a cycle of one candidate raising money, launching a negative attack ad, the other candidate doing the same thing, and then the whole thing repeats. It's a little sad, but that's what many political races are like today and it takes a lot of money to maintain that cycle.
ReplyDeleteI think it's difficult to deny that 80 million dollars is a large amount of money. However, given that both sides are raising massive sums, it's not surprising that they have to raise even more to compete. In order to outdo the other side, each side raises more. Although understandable, I think this is slightly absurd for a race that isn't national, and indicative of the oversized role of fundraising in campaigns. More disturbing is the source of the money- large amounts of which comes from outside of Pennsylvania. Given the effectiveness of advertisements, it's likely that this is part of a trend toward greater amounts of fundraising.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that I'm not following the senate race but after reading this article and hearing that 80 million dollars is being spent is crazy to me. I believe 80 million is a little much for a senate race, but then again it shows how important this position is to the candidates. It's a close race and they're both head to head at th finish-line. They're giving it their all to win, but I don't see what other money they need to use and why they need so much.
ReplyDeleteIt's a little insane that so much is being spent on a senate race. I understand that being a senator is a big deal, but being elected one doesn't grant you supreme power, not to mention most of the public can't even name their state's senators. I definetly feel like this race being blown out of proportion by both sides, however, I wonder if this will become more common or if this is simply a strange, isolated case.
ReplyDelete$81M on both campaigns and there's still a month left before it's all over! That is an absolutely ridiculous sum of money. If even 1/10 of that were focused on actually implementing social programs in Pennsylvania, our state would be better off for it. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a "shady katie mcginty" ad or an ad saying that Pat Toomey owns a jet and a bank. None of those mudslinging ads has any substance. It's just a big storm of "the other candidate is worse than I am," and it's sad.
ReplyDeleteI find it completely ridiculous that so much money can be wasted on such a campaign. The two candidates' ads run constantly on television, and people end up seeing the same things over and over again. I believe that every campaign should have a limited advertisement budget, so that those massive amounts of money can be spent for any number of other purposes that would be more useful to the community.
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with Ben here. Why an unlimited amount of money can be spent on advertising is completely beyond me. Seeing an ad fifteen times over isn't going to change my mind, hearing something on the news might. If we held candidates to a strict spending amount per month (say, 1 million dollars for advertising max per month), then these candidates would be forced to spend their funds elsewhere in potentially more useful roles.
ReplyDeleteWhile they are spending quite a lot of money, I do not find it to be entirely absurd. With the race as close as it is, it's not entirely surprising that this much money is being spent towards their campaigns. I could turn the TV on at any point of the day and almost guarantee that there will be an advertisement from either of the two campaigns at some point during the commercial break. They do get repetitive and annoying after the thousandth time watching it but they do have good effects and may even influence one's vote towards one of the two candidates.
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