Suppose that a personal price tag could be put on the outcome of the 2020 elections - that you can see the election go the way you wish (i.e., “I want Trump to be crushed 538-0 in the Electoral College and Democrats capture a supermajority in both houses of Congress” - or maybe, the opposite, if you’re a Trump supporter) but that it will cost you something big - maybe your house, your retirement savings, your health, your career, or something else you prize.
What is the **maximum **you would be willing to sacrifice to see things unfold the way you want on Election Night 2020?
$25,000?
$50,000?
$100,000?
Or something else that is non-monetary but of great importance to you?
This is a bit of a strange poll. If I have a $25,000 income and am willing to pay $10,000 That says quite a bit more than someone with an income of $200,000 paying $25,000 or even $50,000.
Trump crushed in a landslide and Dems capture House and Senate? Priceless
If that could be guaranteed I’d happy pay $100,000. Since it can be, I’ll donate a few thousand to the good guys and hope they can do something positive.
I hate to be that guy but… I’d rather we just won a fair election. Paying to win just masks the problem and solves nothing. The same problem you’d have in the following election.
I wouldn’t part with anything, but I suspect my rationale is different from where the OP is at. I don’t consider the next election as having anything meaningful to do with my own personal situation, I consider the next election as being a barometer of the American public’s conscience and I have no right to dictate that. I don’t want Trump defeated. I want him rejected by a sane and orderly society.
So to answer what I see as the spirit of the OP. I would be willing to go back to 1972 and put my 5 year old self on a more political life path–sacrificing everything I have right now–so that I could somehow combat the dumbing down of the population that ultimately finds this villain acceptable as POTUS. What that looks like would probably be its own thread, and I would depend very heavily on input from people with more knowledge about what went wrong, and how, than I have. But I would be willing to struggle harder with my introversion and noncombative nature to put the entirety of my being into the effort.
That’s a major problem with all polls and surveys that use this type of question. 10K or 100K doesn’t mean anywhere near the same thing to everybody. Some people would alternatively spend 10K or 100K on their next vacation out of four this year. Other people don’t have that much, no matter what they decide to give up for it.
I’ve given up a chunk of time and attention which I had a lot of other uses for, and expect to give up some more: does that count?
So–in this hypothetical the Electoral College is abolished, there’s no gerrymandering, the Citizens United decision decision has been reversed, there are clear and reasonable limits on campaign spending, and funding sources can’t hide behind PACs?
Turning it into a percentage helps some, but doesn’t remove the problem.
Some people have a lot more discretionary income than others. Giving up even 50% or more of one’s income won’t put some people out on the street. Giving up even 2% of it might do so for others.
Now you could say, ‘Imagine that your income for the coming year will be one million dollars; and also imagine that you’re solvent right now, with all your debts paid, and are expecting no extraordinary expenses; and that you’re expecting to get enough to live on every year for the rest of your life. How much of that million dollars would you be willing to spend if it would prevent Trump from being elected (or guarantee that he would be)?’ The answer to that one might actually tell you something – though if what the OP is actually asking is ‘are you willing to starve on the street along with your children/cats in order to stop Trump?’ it wouldn’t answer that question. But neither a question phrased as a percentage or one phrased as a flat amount will answer it either.