CNN Is reporting that over $1 billion may be spent on campaign advertising in the US midterm election cycle, a fact that I am guessing is supposed to horrify us. Just to put this number in perspective, though, it is worth noting that Americans spend $40 billion a year on weight-loss products. So apparently we are collectively still a bit more interested in losing those extra pounds than losing those extra Senators…
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[Hat tip to someone, somewhere, who once compared campaign spending to spending on chewing gum, which is where I”m sure I got the idea for this post from. For what it’s worth, according to WikiAnswers, Americans spend about $500 million per year on chewing gum. Although, also interestingly, if you go Google Answers for this question, and click on the first link they have to data on American Chewing gum spending, you get taken to an anti-abortion website.]
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So, if we were to publicly finance elections, it would cost the US Government $1 billion. In return, the US Government would reap more than $1 billion in savings gained from fewer concessions and hand-outs to special interests when legislation is passed. Not to mention a vast improvement in the ethics of US politicians.
Another comparison I like to make for my students: in 2009 Anheuser-Busch spent about $1.5 Billion on advertising. AT&T, 2.8 billion; GM, 2.2 billion. And on and on: http://adage.com/marketertrees2010/#225
@Ryan: I think the question of whether we publicly finance elections is a totally different matter. We can debate the merits of whether using government money to fund political campaigns is a good use of government resources – and I am generally very sympathetic to your point – as well as whether the Supreme Court would ever ultimately allow private money to be banned from campaigns. But that’s a separate point from _how much_ money is spent on campaigns.
Whatever your opinions are on abortion. Do NOT click the anti-abortion link. I was curious but I did not last one second at that site.
Comparisons of this sort go back at least to the 2nd (1947) edition of V.O. Key’s POLITICS, PARTIES, AND PRESSURE GROUPS. Key noted that “the cost of tobacco advertising in 1944 exceeded the reported campaign costs of that year,” while “two large soap companies” spent even more. “It does not follow,” he added, “that because soapmakers spend 30 million dollars, president-makers should do likewise. Nevertheless, such comparisons furnish some measure of the problem of gaining the nation’s attention through publicity channels.”
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