Campaign Ads or Food Banks?

As you all know, one of the most anticipated Presidential Elections in history is fast approaching us. With November 4th only 16 days away, both candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain are kicking their campaigns into full gear. Both campaigns this year have raised record funds, with Obama raising $150 million in September alone, and are expected to spend about $30 million a week from now until the election. However, with the economy in a flux as it is now, and many across America struggling to pay their mortgages and put food on their dinner tables, this question must be asked: Is this kind of spending on advertisements, most of which have been negative, sensible?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/16/campbell.brown.negative.ads/index.html?iref=newssearch

I read an interesting article by Cnn's Campbell Brown on this issue last week. (The Link is directly above) In her article, Brown poses this same question to the reader of the sensibility and morality of these campaigns. Do these candidates truly care about their fellow Americans, if they are willing to spend unprecedented amounts of money on negative advertisement, Brown asks.

She proposes that the candidates, "Give the money to that homeless shelter in Grand Forks [North Dakota] or any of the hundreds of charities around this country that are trying to help desperate people get through these difficult times," she adds, "If you really care about hurting Americans, put your money where your mouth is and spare us three more weeks of negative ads."

While I certainly understand Brown's argument, I do not think agree with it. While I do not agree with the amount of negative advertisements by our presidential candidates, I understand their need to spend unprecedented amounts of money in this unprecedented election.

It is not like they are stealing the money from people across the country. Those that truly care about these candidates and their campaigns are the ones that are feeding this fire. They are not giving their money to Obama's campaign or McCain's campaign so it can be given to charity. While I would advocate giving it to charity in the first place, instead of these campaigns, it is the duty of these candidates to do the most with the resources they are given by their countrymen. I do not believe they are doing their best with these negative ads, but using the money donated to their causes is the right thing to do.

Sorry, Ms. Brown, but the fault is not in the candidates, it is in us, the American's that are willing to donate these unprecedented amounts of money, despite our economic downturn.