They can blame Ted Cruz for the fact that beginning the campaign season too early is dangerous; he was the first overall candidate to declare his ambition for the White House. Although there are many possible pitfalls, the most serious is the root of all evil; money. Several GOP candidates are spending money more quickly than it’s coming in. A part of this fact is the result of Donald Trump’s success and the need to defeat him or risk losing their party’s nomination.

Those without concerns are Trump, Ben Carson, (who has raised the most this quarter), and Marco Rubio. Rubio’s campaign is controlled by what has become known as a ‘dark money group.’ He also appears to be leading in the ‘billionaire primary,’ where funding by the one-percent, such as Sheldon Adelson, will fill his war chest.

On the Democratic side, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have controlled their spending, and appear to be fiscally sound.

Only one candidate from each party lacks dependence on Super PACs or the wealthiest Americans; Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

Trump has reportedly received under three million from small donors, but has promised to spend up to one billion dollars of his own money if necessary.

Sanders donations, all from private donors, reached $26.2 million in the third quarter.

On the GOP side, Ted Cruz has the most to work with. He has more Super PACS than any other candidate. He is well-funded, but remains over 20 points behind Trump in the polls. Trump is leading in all four of the first states; Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

Expected to drop out of the race on the GOP side are Rand Paul, Bobby Jindal, George Pataki, Jim Gilmore and Lindsey Graham. Other possibilities are Chris Christy, John Kasich and Mike Huckabee. Already withdrawn because of money problems are Scott Walker and Rick Perry.

Rand Paul is running for reelection to the Senate in addition to the presidency. Mike Huckabee’s is entirely reliant on the Christian religious right; no one else believes he can win.

Although money is the biggest problem when campaigns begin six-months too early, other problems arise. The media is given more time to search for past scandals, or even make them up.

For this reason Trump may be the GOP’s savior. As long as the focus remains on him, the lazy major media ignores the other candidates. For Hillary Clinton, the media and the GOP cannot find enough negatives in her campaign ideology, so they are inventing the Benghazi incident, and her personal e-mail account as ‘scandals.’

Traditionally, and in reality, the campaigns are beginning in earnest with just over a year until the election. No GOP candidate has lost the nomination if that candidate won the first four events; and Trump is leading in the polls in all four states.

After Tuesday night’s debate, (yes, there was a real debate, finally), it is obvious that Hillary Clinton remains the front runner. But don’t count Bernie Sanders out. He has enormous support from working class families, and their numbers greatly surpass the upper middle class and the wealthy. In 2016, they will outnumber Republicans at the polls.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

Source

Photo Courtesy of DonkeyHotey