Political Action

Money in politics. The phrases, quotes and analogies run rampant when discussing money in politics. The association of the two is fundamentally and inextricably intertwined with one another.  The reason is simple: it costs a lot of money to run for elected office. There is nothing cheap about media air time on radio and TV, mail outs, rallies, town halls, phone banks, polls, campaign consultants, and the expenditure list goes on and on. And therefore so does the money. 

There is a lot of cynicism about the association of money in politics.  Whatever your personal views about the subject may be, the facts are these: someone has to run the government; in order to get elected people have to get their views and opinions out to those who do the voting; the spectrum and numbers of voters in Texas can be vast; and nothing is free in this world.

Fundamentally the realm of politics is similar to any other endeavor in life where people line up to try to win for their side. Think of two high school football teams. Think of the pep-rallies, speeches, banners, smoke machines, t-shirts, signs, face paint, mascots, cheerleaders, and bands. What is all that for? It is to promote and help your particular team to victory. Granted many do not think playing the game of running for political office is as exciting to watch as a sporting event, but the fundamentals are the same – just the scale, and therefore the decimal points on the dollar amounts, are different.