Big spending by candidates doesn’t always win elections. For instance, New Jersey Governor — soon to be ex-Governor — Jon Corzine outspent his opponent, Chris Christie, more than three to one … and still lost.
Of course, spending more money usually works better than spending less.
Michael Bloomberg won his race for mayor of New York City. But barely. Bloomberg spent 16 times more than his challenger — over $100 million dollars to get just 50 percent. It cost him more than $150 for every vote. Ouch.
So, why did the mayor have to spend so much to eke out a win? Two words: term limits.
Bloomberg’s deal with the council to gut the city’s two-term limit and allow them all to run for a third term didn’t cost him his powerful perch. But it did cost him millions of dollars. And his reputation.
There were also a number of initiatives on the ballot. Before Tuesday’s election, at Townhall.com, I highlighted Maine and Washington State measures to put a cap on state spending growth. Both measures were defeated, but it was educational to take note of the spending.
In the final months, Maine’s measure was outspent by about ten to one. Washington’s? $3.5 million to nothing. Predictably, the big money came from groups already wealthy from standing in the receiving line for government spending.
Spending money to make money … spending money to take money.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
5 replies on “Dollars and Change”
RE Bloomberg, here’s another way to look at his spending.
He won only by some 52,000 votes. So, he really paid $100 million for 52,000 votes, not half a million. The cost for the winning votes would then be about $192/vote.
He lost the Bronx and Brooklyn, winning Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island.
He got a total of some 56,000 votes in Staten Island. Had Staten Island alone gone to Thompson, Bloomberg would have lost.
Unfortunately, Staten Island is and has been for a long time Democrat territory and continues to elect the lesser of two evils in every election.
FYI, I developed a document entitled 47 Reasons to Vote Against Michael Bloomberg for Mayor. I sent it all over the place including to the editors of every newspaper in NYC. No one would publish it.
If you’d like to see it, let me know and I’ll send you a copy. I’ll bet that you will agree with all 47 reasons.
Correcting a previous post, instead of saying that Staten Island “.… continues to elect the lesser of two evils.…” I should have said that Staten Island elects year after year someone from the same gang of power brokers.
But a Tea Party has arisen and may have influenced Congressman McMahon to vote against the so-called health care bill.
It’s really a health insurance bill, isn’t it?
It takes money to make money, as the old saying goes.
The feds are currently planning to take our money (well, even MORE of it!), while making money with their printing presses. Historically, this kills the dollar’s value.
Warren G Harding had a recession in 1919. He basically ignored it, and the free market fixed itself. They don’t make ’em like they used to. (Yeah, I knew he was a president, but learned this just here lately.) Or so I read. I read a lot of stuff. Some of it is true.
Oh, there are people who want to pay you big bucks for your old, unwanted (broken or mental condition) gold jewelry, right?
Don’t count your chickens. When gold goes up, that jewelry has less gold in it (and vice-versa) to stabilize the price over time. Big diff between 24k and 17k gold jewelry.
First, before the Great Ike, we had depressions, now, in oirder not to accuse the Great Man of creating one, our valiant politicians created the “recession” It stuck.
Second, Harding was not President in 1919, Wilson was, Harding didn’t get the job until 1921(he was elected in 1920).
Let’s stop trying to rewrite history-the college professors and high school so-called teachers are doiing just fine, thank you-they don’t seem to need any help in wrecking the country, although they’re getting plenty from DC
Hi Paul, It seems a shame that so much money is wasted for political campaigns. How can any political position be worth so many millions of dollars of personal money? I believe people would think more highly of someone like Bloomberg if he had donated those millions to charities that would help hundreds and maybe thousands of people. But this would not give the politician the “POWER” he or she wants, so they make campaign organizers and speech writers rich so they can continue to be powerful for another four years. Sorry, but it doesn’t make sense to me. Lyle R. Rolfe in Aurora, Il.