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Subject: Polling By Dollars
North Miami Beach, Florida 1-2-2000 Aaron H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
then. Opinions pro or con are welcome.
POLLING BY DOLLARS
It seems that the coming elections are being predicted by the way dollars
are filling campaign coffers. This is polling by dollars. It is easy to
make a quick comparison and the results may closely match the eventual
outcome in votes. We will have to see if this becomes a reality. Our
guesses about the power of issues to decide the final tally may prove to be
entirely wrong when compared to the power of money.
Today's New York Times showed how money was pulled in by the different
candidates' campaigns in the last months of 1999.
Figures in Millions of Dollars
Bush 10
Bradley 8
McCain 6.1
Gore 4
It is tempting to use such numbers to indicate that there will be Bush
versus Bradley contest next year. Because he leads in dollars will Bush win
the election? This is all premature prognostication since another year of
raising money and discussing issues lies ahead.
Demographers or "people charters" may accurately pinpoint where people
live, work and vote. The figures quoted above are not liable to such
evaluation. If you or I give a dollar each to a candidate, the charters of
voting by dollars might accurately gauge the outcome of the election.
Unfortunately, some givers provide the candidate with multitudes of dollars.
Some givers can afford to give millions. It is clear that some candidates
can spend millions of their own dollars to get themselves elected.
Polling by dollars may not become the actual way decisions are made but it
is weirdly prescient of what might be.
Carol's Evaluation: 9 out of 10.
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