Our Other Political Act

There is another common volunteer political activity, other than sending postcards, making phone calls, or canvassing (not to mention, voting).

We donate.

Most of us do it, whether we can donate modest amounts or more. And we do it despite being besieged by a gazillion appeals for money, one more frantic than the next. We might be annoyed by these emails, texts, and phone calls. But we do know that campaigns cost money. And so, to some extent, we respond.

But how much of this is actually helpful?

I wish I could say that none of it helps. Money in politics is an awful factor, more so every year. Dark money can help to flood the airwaves with ads that are often largely useless for the candidate. That can be extremely annoying to the public. And about all we can do about the abuses is make them transparent. And fight to make sure that more of the donations are used to support effective grassroots efforts.

But without having enough funds to conduct a strong campaign, a candidate’s chances are often slim. Would Kathy Hoffman have won the Superintendent of Public Instruction race over throwback Tom Horne if she had had enough funds to better inform the public of their huge contrast? We can’t really know, but we certainly do understand that she had limited funds. This reduced her opportunities, since she ran “clean” (using public funds via the Citizens Clean Election Act). It would be beneficial for democracy if every candidate used that mechanism. But particularly for statewide office, restricting private donations is a kind of unilateral disarmament that can leave the “clean” candidate vulnerable.

How can we have the most effect?

 

To have a better chance of winning, candidates generally need to collect significant funds. But from our side, as individual donors, how can we get the best “bang for our buck?” And what are common pitfalls for progressive contributors?

There’s a relevant article by Paul Waldman in the Washington Post. It points out that donors frequently flood the coffers of impossible, distant campaigns that have gotten lots of press coverage. We’d certainly like to see people like Marjorie Taylor Greene disappear into the sunset. But since she and many others like her run in “safe” Republican districts, that isn’t likely to happen. And for huge campaigns like the Presidential and Senate runs, our modest donations don’t even reach the level of a drop in the bucket¹.

We can still help such campaigns by donating a very small amount. Giving $5 to a high-end campaign boosts the number of people donating, leading to numbers that can demonstrate support. Remember Bernie’s “average donation of $27”?

But what if you want to actually have a tangible effect on a candidate’s chances? Donate locally! For a typical Arizona state legislative campaign costing around $100,000, our donations can really matter. The same holds for important campaigns for progressive initiatives. The organizations that run these need funds for paid petition circulators, who augment the many dedicated volunteers and can make the difference between success and failure.

Am I advocating donating nothing to statewide campaigns? No – those races have budgets that tend to fall in between the huge nationally publicized ones and the very local ones. And as Arizona becomes more reliably “purple”, contributions can help our candidates win. But as nearly all of us have financial limitations, we need to make sure that we give as much support as possible to the local races. This is where we can have the most impact.

What do campaigns spend our $ on?

Of course, what the campaign funds are actually spent on might be even more critical than how much is being spent. Grassroots efforts, especially those that extend the network of trusted messengers, are often much more important than a huge ad budget. This is especially true if the ads are negative ones that can suppress votes on both sides (they often annoy everyone). So, understanding how a candidate intends to campaign is important. Ultimately, we can’t dictate this.

Aside from donations, what else can we do to change the makeup of our government when elections are still far off? Encouraging great potential candidates to run. Candidate “quality” is probably the biggest single factor in election outcomes. But also, we can work on extending our network of civically engaged persons.

Petitions for a constitutional amendment on reproductive choice will likely be coming this summer. They will have the potential to awaken more progressive voters for 2024.

Be ready!

1. For the nerds among us, note that by one estimate there are 59,369 drops in a 1 gallon bucket, so a single drop is about 17 millionths of a gallon. If you donate $100 in a $100,000,000 campaign (contentious Senate seat), this is analogous to significantly less than a drop in the bucket. But if it were a smaller bucket …