That's the estimate of what each presidential candidate will spend. It's obscene. Politics is no longer about ideas. It hasn't been for a long time. It's about money and who can spend more of it. And from the city council up it's getting more expensive to run a campaign.
Money keeps potentially good candidates from running, and it keeps debates few and infrequent. Politicians, feeling no pressure to risk a debate, maneuver for just the right time and place to do those couple staged ones with the very polite moderator and traffic signals.
Campaigns, especially presidential ones, ought to be publicly financed. Cap candidates at say $25 million. It would force them to support and articulate their ideas through debate, to get out and meet the people. At the very least, America might end up with a team in the White House that knows how to effectively and efficiently spend money.
I imagine all the worthy causes $1 billion could be spent on, and it sickens me to think of it all going to politicians. Maybe Vilsack, who dropped out last week due to lack of funds, wasn't the best candidate, but we'll never know. I think the founders would be appalled to see the spectacle campaigns have become.
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