It started with a broken promise and has now reached levels never before dreamed of.  Barack Obama’s record shattering and unprecedented ability to raise (and spend) vast amounts of money in his quest to win the Presidency has raised a lot of interesting questions about the influence of money in politics.

Back when Obama was still trying to win the Democratic nomination he made an agreement that he would accept public financing for his campaign just as every Presidential hopeful has since the public campaign finance law was first enacted in 1971.  Of course, that was before the press pegged Obama as our nation’s Messiah and before Obama realized his unique ability to squeeze the money out of his followers.  Once Obama had a firm understanding of just what was possible he immediately went back on his word and refused to take the public financing.

It’s not a surprise.  Public financing (which John McCain did accept because of his earlier pledge to do so) only provided $84 million in funds to use between the National Convention in early September and Election Day.  This is how much money John McCain has had at his disposal.  It’s a great deal of money – more than ever before in fact.  Below is the amount of public financing that the candidates have received in recent elections:

• 2004 – Bush and Kerry – $74.62 million
• 2000 – Bush and Gore – $67.56 million
• 1996 – Clinton and Dole – $61.82 million
• 1992 – Clinton and Bush – $55.24 million

However, the $84 million John McCain has to spend pales in comparison to the amount of money Obama has raised.  The Democratic presidential candidate raked in a record-breaking $150 million in September alone and more than $604 million since the start of his campaign.  Obama is raising as much as $5 million a day, every day. 

When October fundraising is finished and counted, Obama is expected to surpass the $695.7 million that John Kerry and President Bush – combined – raised in 2004.

Obama managed to raise $454 million dollars during the primary campaign — covering the period from the start of his presidential bid to Aug. 31, 2008, days after he accepted the Democratic Party nomination.  McCain raised $240 million during that same time. 

So Obama was already outspending McCain 2 to 1 before the public financing limits took place.  Now Obama is outspending McCain by a margin of 3 or 4 to 1 and it could be even higher. 

All of this brings us to the original question.  Is Barack Obama buying the Presidency?

There can be little doubt that advertising works.  Advertising is capable of not only getting your message out, but also of convincing people that your message is the right message.  If Barack Obama is able to get his message out (advertise himself) four times more than John McCain there can be little doubt that many people will be influenced by the sheer volume of the advertising.  Is this fair?

Is it fair or even ethical that a person or group with access to large amounts of money should be able to use that money to influence voters when it comes to something as important as the Presidency?  What if someone like Bill Gates decided that he wanted to be President and was willing to spend whatever amount of money it took, billions of dollars even, to convince people that he was the right man for the job?  Would that be fair?  Would it be ethical?  Should people with more money be allowed to use the greater amount of money to their advantage?

I think our political system is deeply flawed.  It’s not just about this race.  Obama is spending large amounts of money, but McCain’s message is still resonating with voters and he still has a chance to win.  But the problem is that, in my opinion, someone who is playing by the rules is being punished for playing by the rules while someone else arrogantly says the rules don’t apply to him and is then able to have an advantage over the person who is playing by the rules.  This is inherently unfair. 

At the very least the rules should be amended to account for this type of scenario.  Perhaps the rules could be changed so that if one candidate refuses the public financing but the other candidate does not then the candidate who takes the public financing gets both shares?  Maybe that candidate gets public financing but is still able to raise money up to a certain amount or up to some percentage of his opponent’s contributions?

Of course, this wouldn’t fix the actual problem I have with the whole thing – the fact that it costs so much to begin with.  In America we’re taught and brought up to believe that anyone can be President of the United States.  Anyone can run for public office.  Anyone can make a difference.  But that isn’t really the case as all adults know.  If you want to run for a statewide public office or anything higher, you must have access to untold amounts of money.  This simple fact immediately narrows the field of candidates we have to choose from.  Many good and honest people who would make great politicians never run for office because they aren’t willing to do the things necessary to raise the amounts of money they have to raise to compete.

I think it’s absurd that the two people who are running for the Presidency and who are going to be responsible for balancing our budget and overseeing our economy will have spent over $1 Billion in the campaign to get elected.

Think about that for a minute. 

How can anyone who had to raise that kind of money not owe someone a favor?

The same problem exists for our Senators and Congressmen and Governors and probably many other offices, but this Presidential election has really shown us the absurdity of the system.  Surely there’s a better way?

What if Obama does win this election?  What does that mean for the next election?  I’ll tell you what it means.  It means that no one will even consider running if they don’t think they can raise a half a billion dollars or more to fund their campaign.  It means that no candidate will ever again take public financing for their campaign because it will be a losing strategy. 

It means that anyone can become President of the United States of America – if they spend enough money.