How do PAC's influence elections? What legislation or court decisions have influenced campaign finance?

1. Topic: PACs (Political Action
Committees)
Spending on campaigns

2. Warm Up:
• What are some the problems with the
primary and caucus system?

3. Problems
• Too much attention paid to early primaries
and caucuses
• Elected officials can’t find time to run
• Money too big of a role
• Voter participation down
• Too much power to the media

4. Media
• The media
declares winners
and losers after
the first primary
and caucus
• How is this
misleading?

5. Horse Race Journalism
• Media focuses
on polls to
determine who
is leading in
the election
• Misleading in
the 2016

6. Delegate (votes cast for the
nominee)

7. Super delegates (only
democratic party)
• Delegates
chosen by the
party
• It gives the party
some control
over who the
nominee is.

8. Once you have won the
nomination, now you need to
win the general election

9. Electoral College

10. Swing states (battleground states)

11. States that could swing democrat
or republican

12. Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida,
Colorado, Wisconsin, Nevada,
Colorado, Iowa

15. Why do you think it cost so
much to run for President?

16. Obama
• Raised $837.9 million
• Spent $846.7 million

17. Romney
• Raised $771.8 million
• Spent $642.7 million

18. Approximately $2 billion was
spent

19. How do they get this money?

20. They have to fundraise

21. Campaign Finance Reform

22. Richard
Nixon
(Tricky
Dick)

23. Federal Election Campaign Act
(1974)
• Federal Election Commission (police on
elections)
• Presidential Election Campaign Fund
• Provide public funding general election
candidate ($75 million)
• Full disclosure (who’s giving you money)
• Limiting contributions to $2000

24. Soft Money (loophole)
• Money that
parties can
raise
• No limits or
regulations

25. • Struck down the
section that
limited how much
an individual can
give to their own
campaign
• Free speech
Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

26. PACs

27. PAC (Political Action Committee)
527 groups
• A group that gives
a candidate
money to run for
political office
• Interest groups
forms PACs to
donate money to
their “candidate”

29. McCain-Feingold Act (2002)
Banned Soft Money

30. Citizens United v. Federal
Election Commission
• Supreme Court said
corporations and
groups cannot be
limited on campaign
activity
• Allowed to PACs to
do whatever they
want
• Freedom of speech

33. Do you think there should be
limits on how much groups
and/or individuals can donate
to a campaign?