After what seemed like an eternity, Nov. 4, election day, in finally in our rear-view mirror. This race for president lasted almost two years – two years.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hoping that we can get a least a year's rest before we start having to think abut 2012. Of course, there will be the mid-term congressional elections and some state and local races along the way. But, please, we all need a break.
I have not seen any estimates on exactly how much money was spent during this campaign, although I'm sure there are some out there, I simply have not Googled it. President-elect Barack Obama raised about $750 million on his own and I'm sure he spent it all. So, if you add in Sen. John McCain's total and all the presidential candidates in the primaries and state and local candidates' budgets, it would likely be enough to bail out General Motors.
It wasn't so long ago (probably 10 or 12 years) that I remember a candidate for Congress telling the World editorial board that his race would cost $1 million. We were stunned. This year, the candidates in at least one state Senate race spent $1 million. For a STATE Senate seat.
I don't know the answer to this problem of eternal political races. I'm not a really big fan of public financing. I don't check the box on my income tax return. If I'm going to donate, I want it go to the person I support, not into a big fund that is dispensed to someone I might not agree with.
And, public financing only encourages soft money contributions. Groups with an ax to grind buy their own TV time. And those kind of ads can get really nasty – think of the Swift Boat campaign against Sen. John Kerry.
Something needs to be done. My colleague Wayne Greene has had some thoughts and has put them into some of his columns. I have friends who also have offered solutions.
Right now, however, I just don't want to think about anything political, even though that's how I make my living. In the words of Scarlett O'Hara, "I'll think about that tomorrow."
