I am not going to fight a losing battle calling for publicly financed elections. Under the current political environment there is not chance in hell of that happening. Of course, the current system sucks and is probably the source of many of our problems. The need to solicit and gather large contributions from flush donors is not conducive to fair elections or representatives who put their constituents ahead of their contributors when enacting legislation.
But looking at my inbox with around 60 to 80 fund raising emails per day it is hard to know where and how to allocate limited funds. Should I donate to parties, individuals, organizations, groups? What is most effective? Since I support Abortion Rights and have $100.00 to donate should I give to the DNC, DCCC, Planned Parenthood, NARAL or a particular candidate? What is going to be most effective. Is it better to send the $100 to one place or give $10 to 10 different groups. I get solicitations from all of these groups every day.
But what really bugs me is the content of these solicitations. They are mostly bullshit. Let’s look at a few examples.
1. Donate by tonight’s deadline. It seems that every night is a deadline. It does not have to be the end of a quarter, or a month or any period whatsoever. There always is a deadline. And of course the famous, “Your donation will be matched by some factor” if you contribute by the deadline” Who is doing the match? I want to know the name of the matchmaker. And if they want to win the election why not just give the money in the first place. Why is the amount I give, determinate of how much they give?
2. We need $27,353.23 to stay in this race. (or any other number). Let’s face it, they need as much money as possible. Is there a rhyme or reason to saying that they need X dollars by such and such a date?
3. Or they start out a solicitation by saying “Our records show that you supported Donald Trump”. First off, your records are wrong because I never supported that guy. And if your record keeping is that bad, I probably should not be sending you my money as you would have lousy records regarding how you spend it. And, btw, how I. or any other individual, voted is not and should not be part of any record. You may see how I am registered to vote but not who I voted for. Don’t try to guilt me into contributing because my conscience is clear. Now if you are soliciting Rethugs who voted for Trump in 2020 then by all means attack their conscience.
4. Then there are the surveys. Answer a bunch of questions that have obvious answers. “Do you support clean air”. “Do you believe in human rights?” etc etc. Then before you submit your answers you need to click on the donate now button. You really do not care about what I have to say unless I contribute to your cause first. Somehow that seems to be a major part of the problem.
I wonder how much money is collected and spent on political campaigns if you add up every race for every office in the country and every state, county, and city in the country on a yearly basis? We could probably provide health care for every American, rebuild our infrastructure and address climate change with the amount we spend on election campaigns at all levels of government.
Yet I will continue to contribute when and where I can because that is the system we are in. Does the side who raises the most always win? Of course not. But we are afraid that we will lose if the other side raises more, so we give regardless. Maybe. if I had given another $100 to Hillary in 2016 that may have made the difference. Not likely, but I would have to kill myself if that was the reason she lost.
It is a horrendous, degrading, inefficient, system which we are forced to accept until the politicians that benefit from this system are willing to change it. I do not see that happening in my lifetime.