Open Thread (and PSA About Federal Matching Campaign Funds)
Please don't let the number of links discourage you: overlap abounds Besides, depending upon how much you want to know, this summary may suffice: http://www.factcheck.org/2008/04/what-is-public-financing
The submissions of Dr. Jill Stein for federal matching funds for the 2016 Presidential primary show what a candidate must provide in order to qualify for primary funds. Links to her submissions are within these press releases:
http://www.fec.gov/press/press2016/news_releases/20160414release.shtml
http://www.fec.gov/press/press2016/news_releases/20160519release_2.shtml
http://www.fec.gov/press/press2016/news_releases/20160622release.shtml
Definitions for terms like "candidate," "minor party" and "new party" that you may need to understand the rest of the material fully are at https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/9002. (This site is invaluable for federal law--and it accepts donations.)
Also good for an overview:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matching_funds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_finance_in_the_United_States
Some of the materials about matching primary and general funds prepared by the Federal Election Commission:
http://www.fec.gov/info/chone.htm
http://www.fec.gov/press/bkgnd/fund.shtml
http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/pubfund.shtml#General
Some Ramblings on Life's Little Ironies, 2008 Presidential Campaign Finance Edition:
As we recall, Obama had promised to use public funding if his Republican opponent did the same. His Republican opponent turned out to be John McCain, as in McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Law. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/advertisers/viewpoint_co... Perhaps not surprisingly, McCain did promise to use public financing. (Could he not?) McCain kept his word, but Obama did not. However, in a move more brassy than classy, the DNC sued, alleging McCain had violated the matching funds rules. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89642176 (Perhaps this was done mostly to get Obama off the hook, as far as public opinion?)
In any event, the Democratic Obama administration did not prosecute Republican Presidential candidate McCain, who did violate the FEC rules, but the Democratic Obama administration did prosecute Democratic Presidential primary candidate John Edwards, who clearly did not violate the rules. This prosecution piled on during what was a hideous time for Edwards' family (actually, Edwards' families), due to his wife's terminal breast cancer and his own dogging around.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHnLohaGgM4]
After his re-election, Democratic President Obama paid the Democratic Obama administration a fine for having failed to report the names of some 2008 campaign donors. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-campaign-to-pay-375000-fin... onors-names-in-2008/2013/01/04/78973402-56bb-11e2-8b9e-dd8773594efc_story.html
Finally, in his subsequent Senatorial campaigns, McCain, of McCain-Feingold, supposedly "went rogue" with campaign financing: http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/blog/entry/going-rogue-reformer-john-mcc...
All that is to say only that life, like love, is strange--and also potentially funny: McCain's lawyer in the DNC lawsuit was the same lawyer whom Stephen Colbert's conservative character used recurringly on the Colbert Report to explain the law of super PACs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Potter
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCvcZhX7oxk]
(Mickey and Sylvia performing Love is Strange on Steve Allen's show-fun viewing; poor sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DbyAdxp4DQ )
Just FYI: an article about why O'Malley was the only 2016 Democratic Presidential primary candidate to seek matching funds: https://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2016/01/27/wy-did-only-1-presidentia... Spoiler alert: using matching funds is limiting.
The more you know......
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ-qmRS3-a4&list=RDhZ-qmRS3-a4]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePEjehFmddQ]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIAXG_QcQNU]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NXBLxZcO2Q]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXE_n2q08Yw]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcVU-AW3V_I]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lqdErI9uss]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9ZePJtURNs]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aRor905cCw]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AdUIxdwk9g]
Big finish:
Comments
Being lazy this AM, I will just ask.
Are matching funds only available to nominated candidates, or are they allowed during primary battles?
(following) Did Bernie get any fed money or was he theoretically able to get funds from DNC?
Why are we brainwashed to believe it takes nearly $1B to buy a Presidency?
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
As far as why we are brainwashed,
the answer seems obvious. They want to be able to spend as much as they wish, whether they need to or not. Heck, it's not their money they're spending, so why would they want to have to be even a tiny bit frugal? For example, in 2008, Obama used, for his campaign travel, flew an exact duplicate of Air Force One, down to the Presidential sea on the white cover of the headrests.
No one has ever attempted to find out--and I am not sure they could--whether a candidate really has to spend as much as, or more than, his or her opponent in order to win. That one, we seem just to assume.
On your FEC question, funds are available for primary campaigns.
This time around, Dr. Jill Stein got over $242,000. While that is nothing compared to the war chests of Hillary and Bernie, apparently it does not cost anywhere near as much to win the nomination of the Green Party as it does to win the nomination of one of the two largest parties.
What is troubling me: a candidate seems to have be the nominee of a political party to get funds for a general election campaign. That does not seem right. If I want to run on my own, without joining a party, I should be able to do that. Maybe I am misunderstanding?