The Growing Cost of Running for President

In recent years, it's become apparent that Republicans can't win unless they outspend the Democrats. Despite the fact that Bush was the incumbent, 2004 was no different. Phillip Sherwill of the British paper, the Telegraph, has the numbers:

It's a full year before the official start of the 2008 presidential campaign but already 20 candidates are thinking of running. To stand any kind of chance, each will have to spend between $50 million and $100 million – and raise at least $1 million every week in 2007

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Welcome to the latest phase of the unrelenting American political calendar: the coffer-filling season for presidential wannabes. A full year ahead of the opening party caucuses and primaries, prospective contenders are scrambling for the loyalty of wealthy donors and the services of battle-hardened fundraisers.

They have no time to lose as the US embarks on a presidential campaign of staggering cost. The two candidates who go head-to-head in November 2008 are expected to lavish at least $500 million each on their efforts to reach the White House, according to Michael Toner, chairman of the Federal Elections Commission. By contrast, President George W Bush and his Democrat opponent, John Kerry, spent a combined $655 million in 2004 while so-called "527" political campaign groups, named after their relevant tax code, spent more than $100 million.

Add the primary contests and the total campaign costs for 2008 will reach at least $1.5 billion and could rise towards $2 billion. If Michael Bloomberg, Mr Giuliani's successor as mayor of New York, decides to invest his self-made fortune in an independent run, all bets are off on the final tally.

One also has to keep in mind the way politicians find creative ways to raise and spend money under the radar. In 2004, for example, Bush was not shy about using the federal government to make his case and he had a major media ally in Fox News. There was also the tendency of the media to give free air time to the dishonest Swift Boat people who were trying to smear Kerry.

There's nothing wrong, per se, with raising money for a campaign but there's a vast difference between candidates who raise most of their money from hundreds of thousands of small contributors and candidates who raise most of their money by dipping into the pockets of big money. But there are signs that American voters are beginning to ignore candidates who spend a lot of time courting money; instead, voters are beginning to listen again to candidates who seemed concerned about the issues that matter to most Americans. And that is as it ought to be.