Headlines in the conservative internet blare "Bought for $650m". Referring to the white house. But was it? Despite spending an obscene amount of cash. Despite Obama breaking his pledge, and spending (Wasting?) his money on a 1/2 hour infomercial, his money played a very small part in the election. Oh, I am not saying you dont "need" money. But there comes a time when the money is wasted.
And it is obvious that there was a lot of waste. Getting calls 3-6 times a day to vote for X? Hardly decisive. The infomercial? Adored by his fans, but again hardly decisive. The election was one that was his to lose, and despite some of the "pundits" who are analyzing his win, Obama almost managed to lose it.
I remarked several times that the candidates seem to be trying to lose it, and it was a race to see who could lose it first. If future candidates want to imitate Obama's campaign, they will surely lose. It was not a well run campaign. Despite having $650 million to spend.
The problem with all that money is that there comes a time when you get to the law of diminishing returns. That last dollar of money does not buy you the "oomph" that the first $100 does. But Obama had the money and no place to really spend it . The election was not won by the money spent. The election was won and lost based on one key factor (one that has already sunk 2 recent presidents). The Economy.
Despite cries from congressional candidates to spend money on their races, presidents never share their money. They never seem to have enough to go beyond their own race, even when the race is already won. A lot of that money would have done better (perhaps even giving the democrats a super majority) in the hands of senatorial candidates and representatives, but I have yet to see where anyone has shared any appreciable amount with them (from the presidential race). Even when they have more money than they know how to responsibly spend.
I am sure we will see some posts of how this election was bought. But the truth is the election was almost sold out. Not sold to the highest bidder. For anyone in a swing state, there was no problem with hearing from both candidates. Both had more than enough money, but one had a problem (the economy stupid) and the other had lousy advisors.
Despite campaign reform, and a reason that many of us are against it in the first place, there was no shortage of money for this race. Too much so. While the economy tanked, the candidates were freely spending money that was doing nothing more than modifying the presidential seal, and putting cute buttons on pets (since all the supporters already had them). But it is somewhat satisfying to know that the co-author of one of the worst pieces of legislation to come out of the last 8 years was shown that his "intentions" were just smoke and mirrors. And accomplished nothing other than adding another nail in the coffin of free speech.
No, Obama did not buy an election. He wasted a lot of money and betrayed a lot of his principals (if her really has any to begin with - Who is Barak Obama is still a valid question that will be answered shortly). But he almost managed to buy defeat. Like the lottery players who strike it rich, the candidates this time came into a huge windfall and then did not know what to do with it, so spent it like drunken sailors.