Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

Opinion

To the Editor:

Poetry & Art

Classified Ads

Back Issues

Blogs

Obama's advantage

Brandon Goldner
The Commuter

Monday, November 10, 2008

Brandon Goldner
Brandon Goldner

There are those that would complain about capitalism and all of its many flaws, and then there are those that would only bemoan those aspects which don’t suit their needs. A great example of this would be the complaint that Barack Obama had an unfair fundraising advantage, and only won the election because he had more money.

It’s a compelling argument on the surface, as he went against his word and opted out of public financing. The result was a finance discrepancy between himself and John McCain to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in Obama’s favor.

But here’s the thing: of the personal donations he raked in, 49% of them were under $200. That number was only 32% for McCain.

Obama obviously garnered support from an overwhelming number of people who could only afford to give him $150 or $50 or even $5. So in what world is it fair to say that he didn’t deserve every penny of it?

It’s nothing more than capitalism working fairly when a large group of people pool their resources to enact changes they feel will benefit them. In years past, some people have thought that their vote didn’t count, and maybe they had a right to feel that way. Large corporations can pay to have lawyers draft (and committees defend) legislation that favors their growth while it adversely affects the lives of common people. Sometimes it seems that, while we all get one vote, a vote with money behind it has more influence.

To respond, there’s little we can do beside vote with our dollars, be it by boycotting companies whose practices we detest or by purchasing supplies from the local hardware store to ward off a Home Depot from coming to town. Of course, in electing our political leaders, we will still have to trust those representatives to look after us, but at least we have a say in who’s chosen in the first place. After this election, every one of us should feel a little more powerful in knowing that we have more influence then we’ve given ourselves credit for.

Comment

Commenting is closed for this article.