A Presidential Candidates Financial Campaign Christmas
Daniel Downs
December 17, 2007
Christmas is only 8 days away and presidential candidates want Santa Claus to bring them more campaign funds. Actually, they want Santa to bring them a guaranteed win in the primaries beginning January 3 and ending June 3. Nonetheless, presidential candidates require lots of money to advertise their superior leadership qualities and issue solving plans to every person in every state and the entire nation.
This year (2007) has been a good year for most of the candidates. Most have been blessed with multi-millions of dollars to pursue the dream of presidential power. A few like Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson, and John Edwards do not have as much financial chutzpah as the others.
According to the Federal Election Commission, the candidates have raised the following campaign funds:
All of the presidential campaign funds originate from individual donors. Most of the individual donors give over $2,000. The two exceptions are Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. Huckabee’s funding came from donors giving less than $200 to those giving over $2,000. The only true grassroots campaign is the campaign of Ron Paul. His financial donors appear to be mostly low and middle-income citizens giving $200 or less. Mitt Romney is the candidate who has contributed $17.4 million of his own savings, and Hilary Clinton is the only candidate who had $10 million available from previous campaigns.
While visiting Santa’s workshop at the North Pole, I heard that all of the candidates are asking Santa Claus for large presents filled with big green bills—the kind they can spend. I’m certain all of them would welcome it from any of you little elves reading this post. One of the main reasons they want such presents is the high cost of media advertising. Millions of dollars are needed to create and broadcast attractive, effective, convincing ads. How else could they remind us that they are the best man or woman for the job? You know the nation’s CEO and CIC (Commander-in-Chief) job.
This writer hopes Santa is not getting too old to see who has been naughty and who has been nice during their political careers. When it comes to lawmaking and politics, my guess is not many of the candidates would get much from Santa.
On the other hand, the one candidate most likely to be at the top of Santa’s good list is Ron Paul. Unlike many lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Ron Paul has actually honored his oath of office having supported and defended the Constitution as it was written. His loyalty to the “Supreme law of the land” is match by his proven moral character. He is also a Christian. In a recent interview by John Lofton, Paul spoke about his Christian faith. In an article titled The War on Religion, Paul wrote about Christmas and the Separation of Church and State as it was held by framers of the Constitution. Apparently, Paul loves the traditional Christmas traditions.
Of course, it will be hard to beat a southern Baptist preacher and previous Arkansas governor Huckabee about American Christian traditions. Governor Huckabee’s record may be slightly blemished but Santa would not see what God has forgiven. I suspect Fred Thompson also supports America’s Christian traditions. Like Ronald Reagan, he could probably play any part in the Christmas pageant better than any other candidate could. Because I do not know much about Mormonism, I’m not sure how much of Romney’s past naughtiness has been forgiven. The other candidates have no chance of escaping Santa naughtiness test. Well, Obama might be an exception.
Another factor determining whether Santa Claus will bring candidates the desired gift is whether they are conservative or liberal. My best guess is that Santa is a good moral conservative. Therefore, Santa will more than likely not put anything in the Christmas stocking of any candidate who supports abortion, sexual promiscuity, and other lawlessness.
Candidates would do well to remember the song: You'd better not shout slanderous things about other candidates; you'd better not cry. I’m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to the towns where you will be campaigning. He knows when you are sleeping on the job. He knows when you have been bad or good. So, candidates be good for goodness sake—if you can.
For more financial information about the candidates, see Presidential Campaign Finance at the Federal Election Commission website: http://www.fec.gov.
Daniel Downs is a free-lance writer who resides in the Dayton area. His articles on education, religion, politics, and other social issues have been published in the American Chronicle, American Daily, Conservative Truth, Dayton Daily News, GOPUSA, New Media Journal, North Carolina Conservative, Post Chronicle, and Xenia Daily Gazette. Many of his articles and thoughts can also be found on his blog at http://thestateofamerica.wordpress.com.
This year (2007) has been a good year for most of the candidates. Most have been blessed with multi-millions of dollars to pursue the dream of presidential power. A few like Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson, and John Edwards do not have as much financial chutzpah as the others.
According to the Federal Election Commission, the candidates have raised the following campaign funds:
Mike Huckabee raised $2.3 million
Rep. Ron Paul raised $8.2 million
Fred Thompson raised $12.7 million
John Edwards raised $30.1 million
Rudy Giuliani raised $46.7 million
Mitt Romney raised $61.6 million
Barak Obama raised $79.4 million
Hilary Clinton raised $89 million
All of the presidential campaign funds originate from individual donors. Most of the individual donors give over $2,000. The two exceptions are Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. Huckabee’s funding came from donors giving less than $200 to those giving over $2,000. The only true grassroots campaign is the campaign of Ron Paul. His financial donors appear to be mostly low and middle-income citizens giving $200 or less. Mitt Romney is the candidate who has contributed $17.4 million of his own savings, and Hilary Clinton is the only candidate who had $10 million available from previous campaigns.
While visiting Santa’s workshop at the North Pole, I heard that all of the candidates are asking Santa Claus for large presents filled with big green bills—the kind they can spend. I’m certain all of them would welcome it from any of you little elves reading this post. One of the main reasons they want such presents is the high cost of media advertising. Millions of dollars are needed to create and broadcast attractive, effective, convincing ads. How else could they remind us that they are the best man or woman for the job? You know the nation’s CEO and CIC (Commander-in-Chief) job.
This writer hopes Santa is not getting too old to see who has been naughty and who has been nice during their political careers. When it comes to lawmaking and politics, my guess is not many of the candidates would get much from Santa.
On the other hand, the one candidate most likely to be at the top of Santa’s good list is Ron Paul. Unlike many lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Ron Paul has actually honored his oath of office having supported and defended the Constitution as it was written. His loyalty to the “Supreme law of the land” is match by his proven moral character. He is also a Christian. In a recent interview by John Lofton, Paul spoke about his Christian faith. In an article titled The War on Religion, Paul wrote about Christmas and the Separation of Church and State as it was held by framers of the Constitution. Apparently, Paul loves the traditional Christmas traditions.
Of course, it will be hard to beat a southern Baptist preacher and previous Arkansas governor Huckabee about American Christian traditions. Governor Huckabee’s record may be slightly blemished but Santa would not see what God has forgiven. I suspect Fred Thompson also supports America’s Christian traditions. Like Ronald Reagan, he could probably play any part in the Christmas pageant better than any other candidate could. Because I do not know much about Mormonism, I’m not sure how much of Romney’s past naughtiness has been forgiven. The other candidates have no chance of escaping Santa naughtiness test. Well, Obama might be an exception.
Another factor determining whether Santa Claus will bring candidates the desired gift is whether they are conservative or liberal. My best guess is that Santa is a good moral conservative. Therefore, Santa will more than likely not put anything in the Christmas stocking of any candidate who supports abortion, sexual promiscuity, and other lawlessness.
Candidates would do well to remember the song: You'd better not shout slanderous things about other candidates; you'd better not cry. I’m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to the towns where you will be campaigning. He knows when you are sleeping on the job. He knows when you have been bad or good. So, candidates be good for goodness sake—if you can.
For more financial information about the candidates, see Presidential Campaign Finance at the Federal Election Commission website: http://www.fec.gov.
Daniel Downs is a free-lance writer who resides in the Dayton area. His articles on education, religion, politics, and other social issues have been published in the American Chronicle, American Daily, Conservative Truth, Dayton Daily News, GOPUSA, New Media Journal, North Carolina Conservative, Post Chronicle, and Xenia Daily Gazette. Many of his articles and thoughts can also be found on his blog at http://thestateofamerica.wordpress.com.
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