The presidential election is pretty big news over here and receives a great deal of news coverage.
Most Australians are fascinated at the process as it's so completely different to our own electoral system.
One thing that stands out from all the coverage we see is that an enormous amount of money is spent electing a new President.
I wanted to ask, in such tough economic times, has the amount of spending not been questioned by the US public? In Australia there are limits to how much money can be donated to a political party or candidate, and there are limits to what a candidate/party can spend during an election campaign.
Has the subject of limiting spending been raised at all during this campaign?
(and for what it's worth, Australian opinion polls are very much in favor of an Obama win, mainly due to a strong anti-Bush/Republican sentiment here)
First of all, let me welcome you to the forum.
Second, several months ago both McCain and Obama committed to public financing of their general election campaign, but Obama withdrew from the agreement.
Third, there is a popular misinpression as to the effectiveness of money in political campaign. While a lack of sufficent money can be critical, one a reasonable level has been achieved, expenditures in excess of that level tend to be relatively ineffective.
Fourth, there are several limitations on contributions under American (federal) law, but it appears that many of them are being violated by the Obama campaign. I hope we have a thorough review by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) after the election, and that appropriate fines are imposed. Among the violations are accepting contributions from foreign nationals, accepting contributions with fraudulent use of credit care.
