The Real Cost of Democracy

So the 2012 Presidential race is officially under way and thus far we have two candidates. President Obama announced his candidacy 804 days after his inauguration. That’s only 2 years and 2 months of governing in what is supposed to be a four year term of governance.

America no doubt has the longest official and unofficial election cycle of any democracy in the world, especially when compared to the UK where a campaigns last for three to four weeks max.

Obama reneged on a commitment not to accept public funds. This turned out to be a very wise back flip. In 2008 Obama set a new precedent for campaign financing raising a staggering $600 million to fund his ascent to the Presidency. The Obama campaign’s innovative use of social media that attracted countless small time contributors saw him easily out fund his rival John McCain.

Overall in 2008, a record $5.9 billion was spent by all candidates, a 27% increase on the 2004 election. For the 2012 election the Obama campaign is expected to raise $1 billion on its own.

The only Republican to nominate thus far is Mitt Romney the former governor for Massachusetts, a millionaire himself, is cashed up but will surely struggle to compete with Obama’s war chest which has the advantage of being the incumbent  and is unlikely to have to fight for campaign funding from other Democrats. In pure fiscal terms this is a massive advantage.

With more than seventeen months to go before the 2012 election early predictions are that campaign spending will top $7 billion.

So the question needs to be asked, is this healthy for democracy?

No doubt the United States is one of the largest and diverse countries that means national campaigns have to in affect run several different campaigns in one due to the diversity of the electorate. Such an undertaking isn’t cheap. However what seems to be becoming more apparent is that the candidate with the biggest pot of gold has s significant advantage in becoming President.

What I haven’t mentioned of course is the potential for conflict of interest that receiving funds from such a wide range of contributors can generate. Thankfully there are strong disclosure laws in the US that mean that any contribution of over $ 200 dollars must be disclosed and published on the public record by the Federal Election Commission.

But in a time when American’s are being asked to sacrifice and live within their means, the federal budget is being cut, the country’s debt is the equivalent to its GDP, the spending of billions of dollars on what is a essentially a self serving exercise can indeed be labeled obscene.