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CAMPAIGN FINANCE
A Better Way to Measure Fund-Raising? It
Depends
MAY 23, 2014
Derek Willis
@derekwillis
My recent article offering a more accurate way of judging campaign fund-
raising drew several responses, one from Bob Biersack, a former Federal
Election Commission employee now with the Center for Responsive
Politics. When journalists have needed to understand campaign finance
during the past 30 years, Mr. Biersack has often supplied the answer, so
his opinion is worth noting.
Mr. Biersacks take is that while discounting money that is spent to
raise more money is a useful approach for understanding campaign
finances, it might not be in every circumstance. He argues that because the
Republican senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky
are not on the ballot this year, but are considered potential presidential
5/25/2014 A Better Way to Measure Fund-Raising? It Depends - NYTimes.com
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candidates in 2016, direct mail appeals are important. (Mr. Rubio spends
much more on this than Mr. Paul.)
Thats key because one of the things prospective candidates must do
is build name recognition and visibility among party activists and others
around the nation, Mr. Biersack writes. Direct mail fund-raising appeals
can help with that, even if they dont bring in large sums right away,
because the mailings emphasize a potential candidates background and
remind possible donors why the sender might be a good choice for national
office.
I think his argument makes a lot of sense. For actual or potential
national campaigns, direct mail counts as a kind of campaign investment.
But in state or district-level races, I think direct mails costs should factor
into how we assess fund-raising as a measure of a candidates viability,
since most direct mail campaigns employ a wide geographic scope. The
example I used of the campaign in Floridas 18th Congressional District in
2012 fits this idea better.
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