Money

There is an old adage that says money is the mothers milk of politics and almost weekly we see articles about how much money each candidate is amassing. Recall that in the 2016 presidential campaign that the republicans spent $950 million and the democrats spent $1.4 billion and Trump still won. While money is certainly a part of every campaign it is not the be all end all that the fore mentioned adage might indicate. For some voters is it charisma for others policies for others likability and others just vote the party. Candidates who spend the most win the most but they are usually the incumbents and they win for many other reasons besides money. Money is often used as an excuse by the losers. There is a big difference in where the money comes from. Thousands of small donations are quite different from one very large donation. Money from individuals is different than money from PACs. While money to campaigns must be watched the money that comes from lobbyist must be watched even closer. The best way to watch is to have all donations listed with the name of the donor.