Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
For the past few months, I have received daily requests for money. The Trump campaign asks (typically) for $10. These requests come as emails, texts and occasionally even US mail. I am also receiving requests from Harris with the same sentiment. Just $10 to help us defeat Donald Trump. This entire process (from both sides) bewilders me to the point of complete and utter disgust.
First, one of the biggest issues of this election is the economy. Prices for gas, food, housing are reaching all-time highs and incomes are not on pace. To be asking the American people for $10 tells me the candidates and their campaigns are not listening.
According to Forbes, The Biden—now Harris—campaign committee raised $678.2 million and Trump’s campaign committee raised $309.2 million in total between January 2023 and Aug. 31, 2024, the most recent date for which Federal Election Commission filings are available (Durkee, 2024). On either side, those are massive numbers!
I also took the time to look up exactly what campaign funds are allowed to be used for. This link takes you to that information, courtesy of the House of Representatives Committee on Ethics. https://ethics.house.gov/campaign/proper-use-campaign-funds-and-resources#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20a%20Member%20may,mailing%20regarding%20a%20leadership%20race.
It is no longer enough to vote for the candidate of your choice; you must bankroll them. Money talks and bull shit walks. The objective does not seem to be who can do the most for the country. Whoever can raise the most money wins. Is that how it is supposed to be?
In my mind, this is simple. We have two candidates whom we have seen in action. Let’s compare this to something other than politics: basketball. Michael Jordan has played basketball professionally. After three years of his being in the NBA, is there anyone who thinks it would take a fundraising campaign to elect Michael Jordan to a basketball team? The answer is NO! It would not require a banquet of high rollers. It would not take advertisements on television. Dare I say it would even require a news article. His performance would speak for itself. So why at a time in our history when one of the key issues for American people is how to make ends meet do either of the candidates have the unmitigated gall to ask for money?
Asking for a friend.
Reference:
Durkee, Allison, Forbes, retrieved on the world wide web on October 6, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/09/23/trump-vs-harris-fundraising-race-harris-outraises-trump-by-nearly-150-million-in-august/