Vito Martinelli
In today’s political environment, in order to get elected great amounts of funding is needed. A candidate who does not have the financial means compared to another will have a greater difficulty in being elected. Money is needed to promote the campaign, pay workers, and fund every aspect of the campaign. One who is financially stable can spend the extra money to have extra signs made, or hire more workers to speak to citizens around the community. One who does not have the money to purchase such tools to promote the campaign will not have the same opportunity as one who is wealthy and running for a position is office. This high demand for funding created the regulations between hard money and soft money. Hard money is a direct contribution from a business or organization with regulations on how much can be donated. Hard money creates fair competition between candidates, in order to win over funding. They are not simply winning over votes, but money for their entire campaign, as well. Soft money, however, is not a fair or legal way of obtaining funding. Soft money is an indirect method in which an organization can use resources willingly to build for the candidate, or anything he or she would need for the campaign. Using this method, and working around regulations to obtain money may show the “dirty” side of politics, creating desperate measures to get elected. Organizations create a Political in Action Committees which they attempt to advance the outcome of a political issue or election. PACs are able to make contributions to a campaign, although having restrictions on the amount of funding they are allowed to donate.
As well as having funding for the campaign, candidates need to influence the media in order to win votes. If a news organization is biased by the individual they are interviewing, or following on the campaign trail, their biased views of the candidate will subconsciously transfer into their writings or speech. When an organization has biased views on certain topics, they greatly influence their viewers. Once the viewers are impacted, the candidate has a greater chance of obtaining votes and winning. Winning over a news organization, and having their reports swayed to benefit the candidate will greatly promote his or her campaign.
Voter turnout, or the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election, is very important to a candidate. They must attempt to influence as many people as they can, and getting people that may not have voted at all, promotes the candidate greatly. A low turnout is not good for American politics, this an indicator that people do not agree with the political process, or do not trust the system. Although a low voter turnout may not be good for America, making voting a requirement will only harm the political system. People who do not have strong enough beliefs to vote will be forced to make an irrational decision, and politics will become even more of a popularity contest, rather than focusing on a candidate’s true beliefs.
Political parties, in which a group is formed based on similar interests with expressed ideology. In the United States, we have a dominate two party system. This not only creates the competition within the primaries, but the general election serves to make a just choice between parties. I think the party system is a truly democratic way in politics because a candidate’s personal beliefs are expressed. Although the party system may be a fair way of getting elected, the means of gaining political popularity and funding has disrupted the true meaning of politics.
