Campaign Spending Enters the "ebay" Era

by Michael Brewster

You get what you pay for, unless you fall for the sucker-bid and overpay. Veteran auction goers know that in the heat of the moment bidders may well overbid on an item, getting caught up in the excitement. In today's "ebay" campaign races, this problem is exacerbated.

A US Senate seat is worth $36 million according to spending by Sen. Hillary Clinton's re-election campaign (see details in Michael Medved's Town Hall blog). And that was for a shoo-in seat after the Republicans left John Spencer out blowing in the wind. Without Republican opposition, she basically ran unopposed and garnered 67% of the votes. In Pennsylvania, Sen. Rick Santorum spent $24 million in a losing effort. None of this national spending should be surprising when the numbers of local CNY races are examined.

In New York's 24th Congressional District, Democrat Michael Arcuri defeated Republican Ray Meier in a rare open seat contest. Spending on the race was $1.8 million by the Republicans, $1.1 million by the Democrats, the AP reported.

According to the Ithaca Journal, The Republican Senate Campaign Committee raised about $7 million this year, compared with $2 million for the Democrats. We know that over $1 million was spent by the Republicans on Jeff Brown's losing bid for the 49th Senate seat.

So where does the madness end? When will a strong local candidate run for statewide or national office stand up and refuse to allow special interest campaign donations to dictate loyalties once the seat is won? We hear a lot about bipartisan campaign reform, but the past few months prove nothing is different, that Washington and Albany are playing the same old money games.