The National Journal Discovers the Earth is Round
April 12, 2010
The National Journal today reprinted a Justice at Stake press release — oops, I mean, had a very thoughtful piece — about how the Citizens United decision has unleashed a flood of corporate money on state judicial races. The gravamen of the piece is an oft-cited statistic from a still-forthcoming Justice at Stake report which suggests spending on state judicial campaigns more than doubled in the decade from 2000 to 2009 compared to the decade between 1990 and 1999.
As I’ve argued before – Big Deal.
The somewhat boring, less sensational truth is, spending on judicial races merely tracks the overall rise in contributions to other campaigns. In one four-year election cycle alone — never mind a decade — total spending by presidential candidates nearly doubled, from $717 million in 2004 to $1.3 billion in 2008. Barack Obama all by himself spent about $50 million more to win the presidency in 2008 than George W. Bush and John Kerry combined spent in 2004. In 2008, the average winner of a House seat spent $1.37 million — more than double the amount of the average winner a decade ago ($650,000 in 1998).
Actually, Citizens United will probably not alter corporate spending on campaigns all that dramatically. Corporations have always been able to donate. The only difference now is these donations can be used to expressly advocate for a particular candidate, rather than going right up to the edge with issue ads. Any increase in corporate political spending is likely to be dwarfed by the trial bar and trade unions – two groups whose future prosperity is so dependent on their ability to pull the levers of government power.
Posted by Dan Pero in the categories: Citizens United, Judicial Elections, Justice at Stake
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