This upcoming election has featured several breaks in modern American political fundraising. Joe Biden received over 364 million dollars in consecutive months (August and September). This begs the question, how do campaigns make so much money, how do they spend it, what is a super PAC, and why should you care? Campaign finance is governed by the FEC (Federal Election Committee). When it comes to campaigns, the primary source of money is a PAC (Political Action Committee), which can be any organized political advocacy group. A PAC can donate directly to campaigns but has restrictions on where donations can come from, and how much money they can be. A super PAC on the other hand can take unlimited donations from anywhere, and spend it however they please, with the stipulation that money spent is not connected to any given campaign. A common form this takes is in the millions of attack ads played daily on behalf of the Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican conservative PAC, and the Senate Majority PAC, a democratic liberal PAC. These two organizations alone have raised over 340 million dollars.
The sheer numbers behind a super PAC should show you how substantial corporations donations are, and the threat this poses to our democracy. PACs alone are the core of the problem that leads candidates to be scared of taking on the gun lobby because, with the full force of their PAC, their seat is as good as gone. We saw this with Marco Rubio, who refused to say that he would not take another dollar from the NRA, because without that money he loses his job, and ultimately, maintaining one’s seat is the number one priority for all politicians, on either side of the aisle.
Individual campaign donations are needed by every candidate, and they are becoming increasingly important in today’s elections. Our donations can and will slowly drown out corporate money, and only then will we regain our democracy. The United States’ public should have the final say in politics, not the company with the deepest pockets.
If you want to find ways to donate go to https://joebiden.com/#