US Elections, Swing States and my 2 cents

US Elections, Swing States and my 2 cents

The 2012 US Presidential Elections will be the costliest in history.  The New York Times estimates that when it is all said and done, Barack Obama would have raised $934 million and spent $853 million while Mitt Romney would have raised $882 million while spending $752 million.  Those figures also take into account Super Political Action Committee or Super Pac money raised.  For the record, it breaks my heart to see how elections have become money making machines, meaning if you don’t have any money, you can’t possibly win an election.  Whether you vote Democrat or Republican, the influence of Unions, multi-millionaires, corporations, and billionaires, in our election, are sickening.

                

All the money being raised made me ask who is really benefiting from all this money besides our politicians and their cause?  Does the money spent in swing states reach regular folks like you and me?  I live in Rhode Island, so my state will definitely go blue or Democrat.  Rhode Island is not what is called a Battleground State, because of that most of the money collected will not be spent here.  But if you live in Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, New Hampshire, North Carolina, or Nevada, which are Battleground States or Swing States, do you benefit from the spending that was done by the candidates? 

    

It made me wonder, where did all that money go?  I did some research and I could not find an official study as to the economical impact of campaign dollars on local economies, but I am going to try to use my educated guess as to who got paid.  I am guessing that the bulk of the money went to campaign staffers, organizers, local media for advertising, writers, and video and print producers.  We should also not forget restaurants, hotels, caterers, bus companies,      Rental business, sound engineers, graphic designers, security guards, editors, production crews, and the transport industry.  Not a bad list at all, but I still think that all this money could be use differently. My state Rhode Island, unfortunately, will see very little of the campaign dollars, with unemployment rate at 10.7%, we could use some of that money.  I guess it pays to be a swing state.
		Whether the money trickles down or not, as a citizen, I feel like our elections are bought. Power in this country has become a marketplace, those that are willing to pay for it, will get it. What is left for citizens like me that can only afford to contribute no more than $25.00 to my candidate? I do believe that Americans are clever enough to see past the buyers. By that I mean, those contributing over $1 million to their candidate. What are they buying and what do they expect in return? All I am saying is that I cannot wait for the election to be over, I will do my patriotic duty by voting, but for heaven sake, I need my TV back. To be continued.