Posted by
Upstate Conservatives on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 6:56:28 PM
Campaign Spending Enters the "ebay" Era
by Michael Brewster
You get what you pay for, unless you fall for the sucker-bid and
overpay. Veteran auction goers know that in the heat of the moment
bidders may well overbid on an item, getting caught up in the
excitement. In today's "ebay" campaign races, this problem is
exacerbated. Nobody runs for elected office for the salary, but what is
a seat worth?
A US Senate seat is worth $36 million according to spending by Sen.
Hillary Clinton's re-election campaign. And that was for a shoo-in seat after the Republicans
left John Spencer out blowing in the wind. Without Republican
opposition, she basically ran unopposed and garnered 67% of the votes.
In Pennsylvania, Sen. Rick Santorum spent $24 million in a losing
effort. None of this national spending should be surprising when the
numbers of local CNY races are examined.
In New York's 24th Congressional District, Democrat Michael Arcuri
defeated Republican Ray Meier in a rare open seat contest. Spending on
the race was $1.8 million by the Republicans, $1.1 million by the
Democrats, the AP reported.
According to The Ithaca Journal, the Republican Senate
Campaign Committee raised about $7 million this year, compared with $2
million for the Democrats. We know that over $1 million was spent by
the Republicans on Jeff Brown's losing bid for the 49th Senate seat.
So where does the madness end? When will a strong local candidate run
for statewide or national office stand up and refuse to allow special
interest campaign donations to dictate loyalties once the seat is won?
We hear a lot about bipartisan campaign reform, but the past few months
prove nothing is different, that Washington and Albany are playing the
same old money games.