"Money so they say is the root of all evil today"

Is money the root of all evil? Or does it allow you to buy materialistic things that can make you happy? Does giving mass amounts to others less fortunate or to a cause you believe in make it less evil? I always knew that there was a significant amount of money going into campaigns, what I did not know was the extreme process as to which it was obtained, and how much money was actually acquired...if you did not know, it is an unfathomable amount. I know we have focussed a lot on the Presidential campaign, so I have done some research on finances going into the election thus far. Below are some numbers found on how much candidates have fundraised, spent, and have on hand (the amount they can physically spend if they needed to at that moment). 

There are several groups that try to alleviate money from the process in order to level the playing field, though I always question if this is actually possible. Working on a campaign you realize how much it takes to get any sort of information to the voters. What they listen to, what they pay attention to, what will get them to the ballot.  To my not-surprise, what caught peoples attention was everything that money was mandatory for. People would even consider NOT voting for a candidate if they didn't have enough. 

Now, even with this being a blog I will get back to the facts of the internet research and findings from obnoxious amounts of sights that track every inch of the campaign trail. 

On Open Secrets, which is a .org website, has found that there has been progressively more money collected in congressional races than that of presidential races since 2000. Keep in mind that Congressional Races are every two years, while Presidential's are every four- virtually no gap that there aren't heavy amounts of funding going into candidates- not even an elected official, or government directly. 

So what is the role of money in our government and election cycle exactly? 

How is this raised? I have been fortunate enough to be let in on the little secret-phone calls, and events. There are enough spreadsheets with hundreds if not thousands of names, numbers, information, and dates all that have state donors, nation wide donors that all will be contacted. While working on a campaign I was exposed to jobs and positions I was even sure existed, but surely where there is money, there is someone behind it. The Finance Director of the campaign has sever spreadsheets with donors, from either past candidates  or the candidate and their history on who has contributed to them and they are to all be called to ask for a donation i border to strengthen the party if they win. There is also money that comes in from endorsements, the endorsers are usually well known community members or other elected officials, and they host fundraising parties so that way their constituents also financially back the candidate they have chosen to endorse. On the state level Senators hold a fundraiser in which lobbyist attend and is purely known to gather money in support of the candidate to run for reelection. 

All said and done, through the research and personal experiences, I find it sickeningly impossible to take money out of the elections. Thanks for reading my novel and I hope this somewhat helps to understand the process, "importance", and involvement that money truly has on us everyday, even if we don't realize it or if we are keenly aware of it. 

Links to pictures and information:

 www.opensecrets.org   

www.businessinsider.com