Quad View: As seen from the Alumni Office

Our class is having an interesting discussion on presidential politics and the astonishing amount of money spent on them.  Dr. Harriger referred us to opensecrets.org, which is a website that tracks campaign spending and fundraising.

As of the moment that opensecrets.org published their #s, in this presidential race Barack Obama has raised $264 million and John McCain nearly $96 million.  There are estimates that total cost will be around $800 million before the race is over.

We are talking about public funding and how the nature of political fundraising has changed.  In years past, many people made contributions to public election money via the income tax form’s optional check box.  When Dr. Harriger asked the class who checked the tax box to contribute, only maybe 5 people raised their hands.  When she asked us who has given to a specific candidate, it was nearly everyone.

When some of the class seemed surprised/displeased that we are spending $800 million on an election, Dr. Harriger told us that she has seen a figure about how much Americans spend on potato chips each year - and it exceeds $800 mil. 

What’s more important: chips or an election?  Interesting food for thought…