The Presidential "Money Race"

Dr. Robert Brown, Professor of Political Science

The 57^th quadrennial United States Presidential Election continues to heat up as our nation inches closer to the selection of a Republican nominee and the Nov. 6 election date.

The nation has been watching the news with anticipation to see who of the four Republicans will be nominated.

For Dr. Robert Brown, a professor of political science at the University of Mississippi, the Presidential Election has been a main topic of discussion among his students during the 20 years that he has been teaching.

As a professor, Brown enjoys hearing his students’ feedback during class discussions on both politics in general and stories happening in the news. “If I had to choose, the stuff on civil liberties is my favorite topic because I like discussing how values come into conflict and how we should deal with them,” Brown said. “But this school year, a good percent of class has been spent discussing the election, and it has been great.”

One aspect of this election that separates it from others in the past is the large amount of money that candidates have been reeling in to try and top one another. As candidates reign over others, it is important to understand that this is indeed a “money race.”

Brown and his students have discussed the advantage that wealthy individuals, Mitt Romney in particular, have in gaining popularity over the other candidates. “Although it is so much easier to raise money in politics these days, Romney has successfully topped the others by millions of dollars, an amount that definitely gives him an advantage,” Brown said.

Romney has a handful of the wealthy supporters who have given money to his fundraising campaign in hopes that he will be elected president. His campaign, Restore Our Future, spent $14 million last month and has been boosted by more than two-dozen repeat donors since.

Although Romney is ahead in his fundraising, he is not alone. He is one of the three Republican nominees that are ahead of Obama in terms of total net worth.

Brown believes that due to these numbers, money is not going to be a problem for whichever Republican is nominated. “Whoever is nominated for the Republican Party is going to raise a ton of money,” Brown said, “And it will be the most expensive campaign we have ever seen.”