Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Fundraising, Web play part in '08 elections
By Meghan Menard
Daily Lobo (U. New Mexico)
04/02/2007

(U-WIRE) ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The presidential candidates' first quarter fundraising totals were filed Saturday, with a predicted record-high general election campaign cost of $500 million for each major party's candidate.

Though the fundraising totals will not be made public until April 15, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., announced Sunday that she raised $26 million in the three-month period, with $4.2 million of the funds donated through the Internet, according to Fox News.

Clinton is the only candidate in history to begin raising funds for both the primary and general election in the first quarter of fundraising, according to CNN.com.

Clinton held two $2 million fundraisers in the span of three days, and Mitt Romney, former Republican governor of Massachusetts, raised more than $6 million in a one-day call-a-thon, according to The Washington Post.

Other candidates to announce fundraising totals were former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who said he raised more than $14 million in the first quarter, and Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., who gave the ballpark figure of $3 to $4 million in funds, with about $1.9 million of the funds transferred from his Senate account, according to Fox News.

Fundraising for presidential hopefuls has not yet begun on campus through the College Democrats or the College Republicans, said the presidents of these organizations, Nick Rose and Andrew Yerbey.

Rose said College Democrats would not officially endorse a candidate until the candidate is chosen in the Democratic primaries.

Until then, the group will support every Democratic candidate, he said, and he has spoken to Biden's campaign to receive free material to begin campaigning.

He said he spoke to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. and Clinton's camps last week.

"I really like Sen. Biden because I think he's experienced and I think he's smart as hell," he said.

He said unfortunately the high cost of campaigning could force lesser-known candidates like Biden out of the race.

"He can't bring in the big bucks like Clinton and them are bringing in," he said. "It's a problem because you have to have money to stay in the race."

Hopeful candidates must pay for things such as staffing, phone bills and traveling expenses, he said, and the campaigning began so early that the candidates must raise a great deal of money.

"[Money] will keep people in the race that shouldn't stay in the race," he said.

He said he thinks many people would not vote for Clinton, but because she has fundraising power, he said he thinks she will be in the race until the end.

Yerbey said members of College Republicans are individually campaigning for candidates, but the group will not officially endorse a candidate until after the Republican primaries.

He said he supports Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, he said, and is vice president of the statewide Students for McCain organization.

"[McCain] is the candidate with the electability who has ideals closest to mind," he said.

He said he thinks such a high prediction of the election cost was made because campaigning began early this election season.

One of the biggest expenses of the candidates' campaigns has been advertising, but many have found a way to get something for free.

Some candidates have begun to use online companies such as mySpace, Facebook and YouTube for free publicity aimed at young adults.

On March 19, mySpace introduced its new page called the Impact Channel at impact.myspace.com, which links to profiles of presidential candidate hopefuls.

Ten candidates have since joined mySpace. Obama has 84,437 friends, Clinton has 6,093 and McCain has 2,971.

Their profiles have videos and blog posts and includes their ages, professions and a quote above their pictures.

But some students said they are skeptical of whether the profiles will increase support for the candidates.

Richard Wallace, a sophomore majoring in chemistry, said he has a mySpace and Facebook profile but said he has never seen profiles of presidential hopefuls on those pages.

"That's cool that they have them though," he said.

He said he does not think the online profiles will increase voter turnout among college students.

"I think they'll look at the profiles because they're interesting," he said. "But students aren't really involved in politics."

Alex Flachsbart, a sophomore majoring in political science and economics, said he thinks political candidates overvalue tools such as mySpace and Facebook.

"Just because you have friends on mySpace and Facebook does not mean you have a guaranteed vote," he said.

He said he thinks the online profiles will do little more than mobilize the students who already planned on voting.

"It's not going to change anyone's mind or have any impact on the campaign," he said.

High school and college students make up the majority of mySpace and Facebook users, he said, and while high school students are too young to vote, historically college students have the lowest voter turnout of any demographic.

Yerbey said he thinks the profiles of presidential hopefuls online will minimally affect the election.

"People that want to learn more about the candidates will probably go to places besides mySpace," he said. "It's a nice tool to catch people's eye, but I can't see that swaying people to love politics."

In early March, YouTube, an online video-sharing Web site, launched "You Choose," a section for political hopefuls to show their own videos.

Rose said the online videos would give students access to the material they want to see in a way they want to see it.

"They can pick and choose what they want to hear," he said.

He said he thinks the online profiles will make information about the candidates more accessible, but he does not know if it will increase voter participation among college students.

"I think the people who are inherently turned off by politics and just don't give a damn will continue to not give a damn," Rose said.

For the students who do care, he said, online profiles and videos could encourage them to volunteer in campaigning for a candidate.

"A lot of people say, 'Well I'm going to vote but I'm not informed enough to do something,'" Rose said. "But that might change this time. They might say, 'I know a lot about this guy. I really like him.'"

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