It should come as no surprise that Fred Thompson has dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination. His supporters had been urging him to run since the middle of last year, when lukewarm support for other potential Republican candidates seemed to leave room for a ‘Reagan conservative’ like Thompson to energize the party. But when he finally declared his candidacy in September of 2007, his lackluster performance at campaign events and bland policy positions left his audiences dreary.
Thompson’s fundraising suffered from the outset. Since his campaign’s late start last fall, he has raised only $12.8 million, placing him …read more

Tracking the sources of presidential campaign funding is an important part of understanding the business of politics, but it is equally important to see how candidates are spending what they have received. While thinking about the big-ticket items like national television ads and big rallies, it is easy to forget that campaigns have to spend huge sums on everything from hotel rooms to flower delivery. 
Currently, federal law requires that campaign expenses be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission. Both the FEC and non-profit groups like Opensecrets.org make this campaign spending information available to the public.
At the most recent disclosure date, the candidates …read more

Campaign spending is obviously one of the most contentious aspects of the US political process, and we often hear of proposals to limit expenditures as a way of leveling the playing field or promoting more moderate campaigns. Although we are used to discussing campaign finance laws proposed in or passed by Congress, the Supreme Court, in its role as interpreter of the US Constitution, plays a major role in regulating campaign finance. One of the United States Supreme Court’s most important cases deals with exactly that. The case is Buckley v. Valeo (1976), and it remains essential to understanding campaign …read more

With so much at stake in the Iowa Caucus, campaign contributors in the state are digging deep to help their favorite candidates. Let’s check out the numbers:

The total raised so far in Iowa by all candidates is $873,141.
Despite a recent suggesting that Mike Huckabee (R) is a favorite of Iowans, his fundraising in the state has lagged – he has raised only about $19,500.
The fundraising frontrunners are Mitt Romney (R), with $143,900, and Hillary Clinton (D), with $123,038.
Fundraising by party has been about equal. Democrats have garnered about 52% of all campaign donations in the state.

The most interesting bit of …read more

As the first formal step toward choosing presidential finalists, the Iowa Caucuses attract far more money than the state’s small size would suggest.
According to several trustworthy estimates, candidates will spend at least $22,000,000, and as much as $30,000,000 wooing Iowa caucusgoers. How much is that per voter? Bear with me – the answer requires some math.
In 2004, turnout for the Iowa Caucus was 133,353, which equaled 6.1% of eligible voters.
In 2000 it was 145,000, or 6.8% of eligible voters.
Let’s use the 2000 figure, since there was no incumbent candidate.
In the last 8 years, the population of Iowa has increased, so …read more