$2 billion price tag for presidential election

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By STEPHEN BRAUN and JACK GILLUM

WASHINGTON (AP) - The 2012 presidential election broke the $2 billion milestone in its final weeks, becoming the most expensive in American political history, according to final federal finance reports released Thursday. The reports detailed a last-minute cascade of money from mega-donors and an onslaught of spending by the Obama and Romney campaigns and "super" political action committees.

The final campaign finance tallies filed with the Federal Election Commission included nearly $86 million in fundraising for the losing presidential candidate, Republican Mitt Romney, in the election's last weeks. That final burst brought the Romney campaign's total for the election to above $1 billion. Final fundraising and spending totals for President Barack Obama's victorious drive also topped $1 billion.

Surpassing the $2 billion mark was long expected after an election season dominated by the supercharged competitive pressures that both campaigns faced in mounting massive fundraising blitzes to stoke expensive media ad battles and ground wars. The Obama and Romney campaigns each mobilized competing squads of ultra-wealthy fundraisers, sought aid from free-spending allied super PACs and deployed multimillion-dollar media broadsides and armies of organizers.

The final thrust of fundraising included a massive late surge of $33 million in donations to pro-Romney political committees from a single billionaire, Las Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson. In all, Adelson and his wife, Miriam, gave Romney and other Republican candidates $95 million during the election season, closing in on the gambling magnate's vow to give $100 million to GOP causes.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20121207/DA30M5O00.html

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This combination of 2012 file photos shows U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Boulder, Colo. and Cape Canaveral, Fla. Campaign finance filings with the government now show that the cost of the 2012 U.S. presidential race has surpassed $2 billion, a new record. The new tallies released Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, which include nearly $86 million in fundraising by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in the election's final weeks, boosted the total campaign haul over the $2 billion mark. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, Charles Dharapak)

[efhmc]

1. When people talked about what would bring our democracy down, they discussed many things

but none thought it would be paying for elections that would do it, but that is the catalyst.

[sheshe2]

2. If Adelson and his wife Miriam can toss away $95 million away on ...

a loathsome bunch of losers.

Then they can pay there fair share of taxes!!!!!!!!!

Odious People!

[Phlem]

3. What a waste

Considering a lot of the media didn't report the truth. I'm sure at least the talking heads and their crew are providing taxes up and down the chain but is it worth it?

2 billion could fix a lot of things in our country.



No words...

-p

[DallasNE]

4. I Would Like To See A Chart Showing Total Spending

For the last 8 presidential elections. I'm sure that it would show that this spending is the only spending that is going up at a faster rate than health care spending. Plus, the sad part is that voters were probably less informed this election cycle than any of the other 7 elections in this cycle. Consider the 49% of Republicans think that Acorn, which folded its tent in 2010, stole the election for Obama -- yikes half of Republicans do not think that Obama legally won the 2012 election. Something is broke here, folks.

[PSPS]

5. And most of that went right into the wallets of the corporate media.

Now you see why it was so important for them to portray it as a horse race.

[SoapBox]

6. ...just plain obscene.

The Death of Democracy by Dollars.

[DJ13]

7. That amount should make people stop and wonder what the big $ donors expect in return

[Jakes Progress]

8. With honest campaign finance reform,

that money could have gone to sent about 15,000 kids to college.

[harrose]

9. If the Repugs Were Gracious Enough To Not Put Up A Candidate...

... when they're just a bunch of undeserving criminals anyway, we could have used that money for much more productive purposes instead.