Voting against political influence

We’re not even to the conventions yet, and this election offers lessons in public opinion.

Political preferences aside, a recent study indicates that the best way to wrestle influence away from PAC funds, lobbyists and special interests… is to put your money where your mouth is. Voters have contributed small amounts in large quantities during the recently passed primary season, and that generosity shows little sign of ending as we head into the general election.
But this isn’t just about cash. The BYU/Harris Poll report, published by the Center for Media Research, indicates that people who make small contributions to political candidates are more likely to be suspicious of candidates who accept large contributions from the usual sources.

Legislators have long tried to reform how politics is run in the U.S., but with little to show for that effort. (Not a terribly big surprise; those who were elected by a system are probably not the most eager folks to change it… and I mean that in the most politically neutral way.) But it appears the American voter might be more likely to take matters into their own hands… at the ATM, as well as at the ballot box.

Implications: It only makes sense that people are more likely to be passionate about a candidate if they have gone so far as to contribute to the campaign. But it seems that even non-contributors are at least slightly more inclined to think favorably of candidates who have declined funding from traditional PACs, lobbyists, corporations, etc. My point here is not focused on either candidate. My focus is purely on this shift in “where political funding comes from.” The big companies, lobbyists and PACs have to be asking whether…

Perhaps small is the new big.

Where I live, we saw Gen X put their fingerprint on politics in 1998 with the election of an anti-candidate by the name of Jesse Ventura. Having seen the race first-hand, I don’t think Ventura proved himself to be the best candidate a decade ago; he proved himself to be the least candidate-like of the other options. His performance as Governor of Minnesota aside, one important accomplishment of Ventura was to bring lots of people to the voting booth for the first time. In this election, who are the people voting—and contributing—for the first time? Why do you think that is happening?

Mike Anderson