It blows my mind that Clinton and Obama have each burned through $100 million and we still don't have a nominee. I check here every day and there are appeals for Obama (and today Clinton) supporters to donate more money. When do we say "enough is enough"?
I understand that some people are rabid about getting their candidate elected and feel the need to raise more money so that some staffer can order pizza for dinner. But it just bothers me that these candidates have broken every fundraising record out there and will probably come close to doubling their 2007 totals if this drags out to the convention. And that doesn't even get us to the general election, where McCain will be sitting there with a replenished war chest. To me, that is a horrendous waste of money for the party that is crying about not enough money going to help seniors heat their homes, or raising unemployment benefits, or aiding veterans, etc. Isn't that a bit hypocritical?
I will admit that I supported John Edwards in this election, and I donated $35 to his campaign to keep it going after Iowa. I truly believed in his message and the need to keep him in the race to push the other candidates to the left. Now did I have $35 to donate? Not really. I'm in bankruptcy right now and don't have much money in the budget for gas let alone political donations. But I felt that strongly about it, and Edwards was getting matching funds because he didn't opt out of public financing. I feel that when candidates go outside the system so they can raise and spend obscene amounts of money it corrupts the system. Each election it becomes a scenario where millionaires have to run so they can pump their own money into the campaign in slow times, or else have the connections to raise millions on their behalf. I don't even want to think about how much money is wasted in these elections so the media conglomerates can get rich off selling ad time.
My point is simply that the Democratic party is raising and spending so much money this time around that we're starting to look like the Republicans. And if it takes $250m to win the presidency this time around, what will it take next time? And won't we then be reduced to only "celebrity" candidates running because they're the only ones who can put together the resources to run? But my educated guess is that won't be a part of government that Clinton or Obama will want to "change".