3/6/12
How has campaign finance reform evolved over the
years?
I.
Money
A.
Money is used
for ads, TV time, paying staff, PR people, people to write speeches, people who
buy them things, travel expenses, direct mail appeals, etc
B.
The party can
also raise money for its candidates, and candidates can use as much of their
own money as they want (freedom of speech)
C.
Money is
speech. Case that determined this was
Buckley vs. Valeo. You could have
restrictions but you can’t outright ban the giving of money to candidates
D.
Differences
between congressional and presidential elections
1.
Money in
congressional elections is completely private- it’s only from the people, not
taxpayer money and no money from gov’t
2.
Presidential is
a combination of private and public funds- a person can give money and the
government can give money. The government money takes 2 forms- for every private
donation less than $250 the government gives matching funds
3.
The govt. money
takes two forms. For primaries candidates can get matching funds from govt.
for every donation that is $250 or less which encourages people to donate. For
the general election, the govt gives a huge sum to each major candidate and if
minor parties got more than 5% of the vote in a previous general election to
receive some money
a)
If the
candidates take the 80 million from the govt. they are then limited in the
amount of money they can raise on their own. So the trend has been to not take
that public money since they can raise more on their own
E.
Independent
Expenditure
1.
An organization that
is not connected to a campaign spends money to influence and election
2.
Run adds to
support a certain candidate or issue
3.
Cannot
coordinate with a campaign
4.
How were their
actions limited before citizens united?
a)
Restrictions
came from McCain-Feingold, which was a campaign finance reform act in 2002
(1)
The act said
that independent expenditures cannot run ads that clearly endorse a candidate
60 days before a general election and 30 days before a primary. Citizens United overturned that using
judicial review
(2)
No soft money
(unlimited funds that you can give to a political organization) to political
parties
(3)
Raised
individual contributions from $1,000 to $2,000 and can be adjusted
b)
The loophole in
McCain-Feingold was 527’s (independent expenditure groups that were created to
deal with McCain-Feingold). You could
give as much money to a 527, which would run ads attacking a candidate or
discussing a specific issue
F.
Reviewing Money
in Campaigns/ Elections
1.
1971/1974
Campaign Finance Laws
a)
What led to it?
(1)
Corruption-
Nixon took huge donations in exchange for political appointments
(2)
There was a law
saying that corporations and unions could not give money from their general
treasuries, but they were doing so anyway because there was no way to track and
regulate the money
b)
Key provisions
(1)
$1,000 limit for
individual contributions to prevent rich people from buying elections
(2)
Created rules
that there would be a paper trail- had to fill out paperwork to give a donation
so the government knows who is giving and how much
(3)
Created a
government agency, the FEC, so supervise the money in campaigns
(4)
Corporations and
unions could set up a PAC, which anyone could donate money to up to $5,000, and
the PAC could give $5,000 to candidates, run ads, educate people, etc. PACs can coordinate with candidates (which is
why they have a hard money limit)
(5)
Candidates could
spend as much of their own money as they want
c)
In what way did
this reform fail and what was the loophole?
(1)
It made it very
hard for challengers to raise money because an incumbent already has a base
support
(2)
Rich candidates
could spend as much of their own money, so it benefited the rich people
(3)
Loophole- soft
money to political parties for “party building activities”
2.
McCain-Feingold
(2002)
a)
What led to it?
(1)
Independent
expenditures spending a lot of money and therefore calling the shots in the
elections
(2)
Too much
unregulated money in our campaigns
b)
Key provisions
(1)
Limits on
independent expenditures
(2)
Raised the limit
on individual contributions from $1,000 to $2,000
(3)
No soft money
c)
Loophole
(1)
527’s
3.
Citizens United
decision and its effect on Independent Expenditures (2010)
a)
Led to the
creation of Super PACs, which can spend unlimited funds endorsing candidates
even in the 60 days before an election (unlike 527’s which could not endorse a
specific candidate)
b)
Independent
expenditures cannot coordinate with candidates and have soft money (today they
are Super PACs). PACs specifically raise
money for candidates, can coordinate with candidates, and have hard money.
3/13/12
II.
Deconstructing
Mitt Romney’s Campaign
A.
How is he
attacking President Obama?
1.
Economy (which
tends to be a key theme in elections. A
bad economy hurts the incumbent)
2.
Obama doesn’t
represent American values and is soft on foreign policy (he shouldn’t be
apologizing for who we are)
B.
How is he
attacking his Republican opponents? What
advantages does he have over them?
1.
Attacks
a)
Attacking
Santorum saying that Santorum doesn’t have electability and cannot win the
general election
b)
Attacking Newt’s
multiple wives
2.
Advantages
a)
The economy is a
major issue, and that is his expertise
b)
Closest to the
center
c)
Money- raised
the most and has a lot of his own
d)
Better organized
C.
Is he being
positive or negative?
1.
Leaning
negative- he has a hard time making a positive image for himself, so he is
attacking the other candidates
D.
What is Romney’s
“theme”?
1.
Economy
E.
What voters is
he targeting?
1.
Independents-
blue collar workers
III.
The general
election
A.
Will this
election be based on position issues or valence issues? What would be examples of each?
1.
Position issue-
issues that divide the country and therefore politicians take different views
(abortion, gay marriage, taxes, foreign policy, healthcare, etc.)
2.
Valence issue-
everyone agrees on these issues, and people vote for whoever is more apt to
deal with the issue (strong economy, low crime rate, etc.). Within valence issues are position issues (we
want a better economy, and there are different opinions on how to fix it)
B.
Do you feel
people will vote “prospectively” or “retrospectively”?
1.
Prospective-
voting based on looking towards the future.
Prospective voters tend to be more knowledgeable about the issues
2.
Retrospective-
voting based on what happened in the past
3.
Most elections
are a combination of both
C.
What’s the
coalition that Romney will need to win?
1.
Democratic
coalition needed to win
a)
Base- blacks and
Jews (however Jewish support is slipping)
b)
Union workers
and Catholics (but they are slipping too and becoming swing voters)
c)
Southern support
(but this has disappeared)
d)
Hispanics (but
Cubans vote Republican because they fled Communism and dislike government
intervention in economics)
2.
Republican
coalition
a)
Base= South
b)
Asians lean
right
c)
White males
d)
Evangelical
Christians and social conservatives
e)
Professional/
business people
f)
Farmers (but
they are not loyal)
g)
Poor people
(which is surprising)
3.
Romney’s
coalition
a)
Independents
b)
Republican base
c)
A base based on
economic concerns
D.
Will there be
any “coattails”?
1.
Coattails-
(learn on your own)
2.
If a president
from a party wins, it will help congressmen from that party be elected for Congress
as well
3.
We don’t see this
so much anymore because the parties don’t mobilize us and we vote for
individuals
IV.
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