# Money worked: Election 2008 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 6, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389 "2008-11-06T01:23:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/21 "2008-11-06T03:15:41Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > But supposedly your own vote was already secured, so you must think you by this money have helped him win other peoples votes. Did you buy those votes? You make it sound like Obama was handing out money on street corners yesterday to lure people into the voting booths. I donated money to his campaign to help him win the election. Period. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/22 "2008-11-06T03:40:56Z")
Typically the repubs have had a huge money advantage. Now Obama did. In either case public financing of elections would eliminate that. We need to stop lobbyists from having any impact in our elections. It would solve so many problems. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/23 "2008-11-06T03:51:50Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Typically the repubs have had a huge money advantage. Now Obama did. In either case public financing of elections would eliminate that. We need to stop lobbyists from having any impact in our elections. It would solve so many problems. If the American electorate that donated money to Obama’s campaign now constitutes a special interest group, then, well…I don’t know where we are right now. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/24 "2008-11-06T20:30:44Z")
I sure hope money worked. Og knows I gave him plenty of my own. Ed ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/25 "2008-11-06T21:08:00Z")
I gave him $140.00, but I don’t have any special power to get him into the White House. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/26 "2008-11-06T21:20:17Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > Probably the ideal would be to have complete public financing of elections. [I used to say that, too](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9457548&#post9457548), but in the last year or two (as is reflected in that post) I’ve changed my mind. There’s nothing wrong with letting the public vote for a candidate with their wallets as well as their ballots. ---
**Author:** ![geniios](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@geniios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geniios)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/27 "2008-11-06T22:05:13Z")
Whether you like it or don’t a rational mind can’t deny, that he bought the election no matter who gave him the money. > [@Rune](#): > > Obama raked in a mindboggling $600+ million in campaign funds. Considerable more than his opponent. So did he buy his way into the White House? Is the importance of money in US elections in any way suspect, troubling or subtracting from the way democracy works? Could Obama have used those money to build schools or pay back on US debts or whatever, and still have won the election? ---
**Author:** ![geniios](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@geniios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geniios)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/28 "2008-11-06T22:06:22Z")
Effectively you are saying let the rich choose the president. > [@Marley23](#): > > [I used to say that, too](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9457548&#post9457548), but in the last year or two (as is reflected in that post) I’ve changed my mind. There’s nothing wrong with letting the public vote for a candidate with their wallets as well as their ballots. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/29 "2008-11-06T22:18:18Z")
> [@geniios](#): > > Effectively you are saying let the rich choose the president. That’s not true, even with the word “effectively” in there. (And the rich do actually have the right to an opinion also.) If people are excited about a candidate, why can’t they offer financial support? Let’s not pretend either that public financing removes money as an issue entirely. For one thing, someone has to decide who gets public financing. ---
**Author:** ![meara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@meara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meara)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/30 "2008-11-06T22:56:09Z")
I like the way Obama financed his campaign for a lot of reasons, but in particular, it showed a lot of marketing savvy. A $2300 donation from a big donor doesn’t get very many votes. Maybe it supports a mailing or one paid campaign worker. A bundle of a hundred $2300 donations just ties strings around you and makes you beholden to whatever organization built the bundle. One hundred $23 donations is incredible by comparison. Forget the money itself. You’ve now recruited 100 unpaid, avid supporters who are going to stick by you through thick and thin and talk you up to all of their friends. People who have donated money to a campaign really do not want to see their candidate lose. Especially if they live on budgets and that money really meant something to them. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/31 "2008-11-06T23:39:43Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > Probably the ideal would be to have complete public financing of elections. But, given that we don’t have that… > [@gonzomax](#): > > Typically the repubs have had a huge money advantage. Now Obama did. In either case public financing of elections would eliminate that… We do indeed have public financing of the Presidential election. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/32 "2008-11-07T00:02:01Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > There’s nothing wrong with letting the public vote for a candidate with their wallets as well as their ballots. Do you think it is another kind of democracy? A fusion of capitalism and democracy. Is it comparable to the way some people believes consumerism is also a form of democracy? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389/33 "2008-11-07T01:14:43Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Do you think it is another kind of democracy? A fusion of capitalism and democracy. Is it comparable to the way some people believes consumerism is also a form of democracy? “Another kind?” Capitalism and democracy can conflict, but I don’t see them as opposed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-worked-election-2008/471389.md?page=1)