If there was ever a “frat bro” candidate, former Florida Gov. and now former presidential candidate Jeb “Jeb!” Bush had the title locked down. He boasted about his fantasy football team’s record in a televised debate and sold shirts in his campaign store reading about how his dad is “the greatest man I’ve ever known and if you don’t think so we can step outside.”
What put him squarely in the kegger club, though, was his ability to tap his wealthy acquaintances for vast sums of money. Bush had an ungodly amount of money at his fingertips and wasn’t afraid to spend it to get what few votes he received.
According to a report from the Campaign Finance Institute, Bush’s SuperPACs raised a total of $118 million dollars through the end of 2015. This January, the Bush-supporting SuperPAC Right to Rise USA spent $34.5 million and $22 million in February, outstripping nearly every other PAC in the race.
Despite all that money, Bush placed 6th in Iowa, 4th in New Hampshire and 4th in South Carolina. The “poor” guy didn’t have a chance in a race where outsiders dominate.
His candidacy should be a lesson to reactionary liberals and conservatives alike who decry the results of the Citizens United and Speechnow Supreme Court decisions. Just because people can finally exercise their freedom of speech to the fullest extent does not mean democracy is gone.
Much of the rhetoric in support of overturning Citizens United comes from Democrats, amplified by presidential candidate Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. He consistently rails against the current structure of campaign finance in the United States.
If Sanders was right in his doomsday proclamations about the corrupting effects of big money in politics, Bush would’ve placed higher in every state. He spent the most money per vote of any candidate when considering outside money and still bombed.
It’s because, although there is a lot more money in play, many campaigns do not get a good return on their investment. These SuperPACs don’t hire bad consultants, either. The laws surrounding the Citizens United and Speechnow decisions make it difficult for political campaigns to run a tight ship.
Campaign finance in the Citizens United era is extremely inefficient from a management standpoint. Campaigns are legally prohibited from controlling how outside money supporting their candidate is spent, making a coordinated strategy next to impossible.
Imagine if Wal-Mart got a large part of its money from outside sources, but couldn’t make decisions about where that money would go. Both Wal-Mart and the outside financiers would waste loads of cash duplicating efforts and missing things altogether.
As an example, the “Jeb!” campaign has little warning on which television stations and at what times Right to Rise USA will show attack ads. So, commercial from the “Jeb!” campaign and one from a SuperPAC might both air during the latest episode of “How to Get Away with Murder.”
I’m not saying money doesn’t corrupt, but if the Federal Election Commission enforces the campaign finance laws on the books, then the U.S. will be no more corrupt than it already was.
Please clap.
Jack Richards is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from New Orleans, Louisiana.