Posts Tagged ‘Campaign Finance’
» posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 5:09 pm by Damien Baldino
John Corzine’s $131 million campaign expenditure
How much would you pay to be a U.S. Senator or Governor? For John Corzine, the answer is $131 million. That includes the amount of money spent on his Senate race and two gubernoatorial campaigns. As you might recall, Corzine lost a reelection bid to Republican Chris Christie.
If you take a close look at the 2009 New Jersey Governor’s race, one interesting fact stands out. Chris Christie spent $11.4 million, while John Corzine spent $27 million. Of that $27 million, $25.3 million was his own. Not only did he lose despite out-spending his opponent by nearly 3 to 1, but nearly 94% of his campaign was self-financed. This tells me that he would have likely lost in a landslide if he were a man of modest means. Actually, if he were a man of modest means, he probably wouldn’t even be looked at as a legitimate candidate. If you don’t think so, just look at his lack of fundraising. Most people would agree that a strong candidate also needs to be strong fundraiser. » read more
post a comment | filed under Politics | tags: Campaign Finance, John Corzine, Michael Bloomberg, New Jersey, New York
» posted on Sunday, November 29th, 2009 at 8:37 pm by Damien Baldino
Michael Bloomberg’s expensive purchase
You often hear politicians say they want to win because of their desire to serve the public. There are a lot of ways someone can serve their community and make a huge difference. Political office is certainly one of them, or at least it can be, but helping in this capacity requires a tremendous amount of time and money. At some point, even the most dedicated public servant has to wonder if the resources spent on a campaign are actually worth it. After all, if your purpose in life is to truly serve the public, then isn’t it possible that the time and money spent to obtain office could be put to better use? Of course it can, but I’ll assume that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg disagrees.
After spending $74 million on his first mayoral campaign and $85 million on his second, Bloomberg went ahead and spent $102 million to win this years mayoral race. If you’re keeping track at home, that’s a whopping $183 for each vote. What would possess someone to do such a thing? » read more
2 comments | filed under Politics | tags: Campaign Finance, Michael Bloomberg, New York
