According to the indispensable (if oxymoronic) Center for Responsive Politics, George W. Bush and John F. Kerry together raised nearly a half a billion dollars from private sources in this year’s presidential election—and both candidates received $75 million of public money on top of that. (Both candidates finished their campaigns with cash-on-hand, although neither is required to refund public monies given to them.) Bush raised over $360 million, well more than the entire amount spent by all presidential candidates in 2000.
Bush spent $5.15 for each vote cast for him, compared to spending $3.68 for each vote cast for him in 2000. Kerry spent $4.31 for each vote cast for him, compared to Al Gore’s spending of $2.35 per vote in 2000. To give you an idea of the amount of economies of scale enjoyed by major party candidates, Ralph Nader spent $9.62 for each vote cast for him, over three and a half times more than he spent in the last election. (In 2000, Nader spent $2.74 per vote.) This suggests that the effect, if not the intent, of the McCain-Feingold law was to protect the monopoly positions of the two major parties which were clearly eroding under the old campaign finance rules.
