Running Head: Presidential Campaign Financing Presidential Campaign Financing and Spending Michael P. CaldwellHerzing CollegeAbstractPresident Bush won reelection against Sen. John Kerry in a presidential race that shattered previous fundraising and spending records to become the most expensive in U. S. History. Both candidates benefited from the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which went into affect just before the 2004 election cycle began and doubled the individual contribution limit from $1, 000 to 2, 000 dollars.
Anyone trying to run for President of the United States must raise enormous amounts of money to keep there campaigns going. President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, for example, raised a total of nearly half a billion dollars in private contributions during the presidential primary season. More efforts are going to have to be made to keep the spending of non-party affiliated groups, such as the 527 groups, to a minimum. Presidential Campaign Financing and Spending: Election 2004 President George W.
Bush took in a record $360 million for his 2004 re-election campaign, easily exceeding the $192 million he raised in his 2000 campaign. President bush spent $306 million of the money he raised which was also another record. John Kerry not only finished behind him in the election he also finished behind him in campaign funds, but still posted totals that far exceeded any other election period. Kerry raised more then $317 million and spent more then $240 million. Both partied during the campaign declined public matching funds, which would have not let them use all of the fund that they had raised, and would have limited there spending.
The Term Paper on Inadequicies with Campaign Finance in the 2000 Election
... presidential season to 133 in 2000.Altogether, the Republican and Democratic national committees disclosed in their first post election campaign reports that they raised $303 million ... and Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.) said that the skyrocketing election spending and new Senate allies auger well for at least a ...
Once they accept there partied nomination however they must accept the Public funding. For the 2004 election cycle the public matching funds they received were $74. 6 million dollars. (Democracy 21. org, 2004; unknown author, 2004) McCain-Feingold Law The money that they receive from individuals was also limited this year thanks to a new law known as the McCain-Feingold Law, which was enacted prior to the 2004 election cycle. The McCain-Feingold law, prohibits individual contribution limits to $2, 000, were as in previous elections it was $1, 000.
However the main objective of the McCain-Feingold law was break the corruption between soft money donors and federal officeholders or candidates.
