2008 US Presidential elections is headed towards being the most
expensive election in American history. Michael Toner, the chairman of the Federal Election Commission, has predicted this to be the '1 billion dollar election'. With election expenses and campaigning costs escalating steadily in the course of last two elections, the expenses for this election have broken all previous records. With all the other parties accumulating fund, it is expected that the total expense for the US Presidential Election 2008 will go well beyond $ 1 billion. So much so, that the collective expenses of the Democratic and the Republican parties in the 2004 elections was estimated to have exceeded the billion dollar mark.
As per a report published by the Federal Election Commission in July, 2007, the Democrat candidate,
Barack Obama has raised the maximum amount of money, which sums up to $33,120,440, while the former First Lady,
Hillary Clinton has raised $27,021,358. It is expected that by the end of 2007, every serious contender for the Presidential post will be equipped with about 100 million dollars for campaigning and for going through the electoral process, including the primaries, the campaigns and the various political conventions. This has forced the candidates to look at various new avenues to generate the finances. Internet has become one of the most popular modes to secure the money needed for the expenses. Many candidates have gone on-line to collect the necessary amount of money in order to conduct their nation wide campaigning programs.
Ron Paul, the Republican candidate, used the Internet with utmost effectiveness when he collected more than 4 million dollars in a single day. Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate is also believed to be one of the most tech-savvy candidates, using the Internet to generate support and funds to finance his Presidential campaigns.
Under such escalating economic demands, the role of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund checkoff has diminished over the time. The Federal Election Commission sanctions funds through this checkoff program, to stop the trend of political leaders accepting funds from private financiers. The amount is limited, and the candidates need to provide a due audit report at the end of their campaigns to ensure fair use of the money. The money can be spent on primaries, campaigns and conventions, and the candidates who accept the terms of this financing are considered to be eligible. However, independent candidates and candidates from minor parties have to ensure at least five per cent votes in order to avail this fund. In the given situation, many politicians opt out of the Federal funds. The candidates who have been selected for the fund this year, include
Joe Biden,
Chris Dodd,
John McCain and Tom Trancredo. The high expenses related to the elections of 2008, have also attracted some of the richest people of America in the Presidential fray, including Michael Bloomberg, the New York billionaire.
