The Business of Running for President

RUNNING THE BUSINESS OF R PRESIDENT FOR Much like running a corporation, running for president is an expensive and time-consuming undertaking. Just like a corporation, a campaign involves employees, money management, public relations, advertising and the selling of a product or service. Which in this case is the person running for office. In this graphic, we take a look at just what all it takes to run for president, and how big of a business doing so has become. LIKE ALL BUSINESSES, YOU HAVE BETTER SUCCESS IN SOME STATES THAN OTHERS. Below is a look at how effective each candidate has been state by state in fundraising TOTALS WHO'S RAISED THE MOST BY STATE $556,000,000 arace O OBAMA R ROMNEY $339,800,000 $0.3M $0.IM $0.2M $0.5M $5.2M $2.6M 53.6M $3.OM 2.8M S6.0M| $1.8M $1.8M S1.3M $0.2M $12.5M $4.8M $0.7M $1.9M $0.5M $0.85M $1.1M $0.86M $2.2M $0.4M $2.9M I$8.8M 57.IM S0.6M 38.8M $7.2M 50.8M 521.4M $11.2M $8.9M $18.2M WA MT ME $9.2M $5.5M $2.OM OR ND MN $1.IM $0.4M WI ID WY SD $1.8M IA $1.5M $ $64.5M CA NV ° PA OH $6.2M $8.1M $9.6M $8.6M $0.9M $0.5M $14.2M $4.5M $10.5M $2.1M $0.7M $1.4M NE CO 1ЗМ $1.9M KS UT $10.3M IN MO $68.3M 33.8M $3.4M IL I51.8M $4.9M $2.5M AZ NC IN • TX AR MS AL LA SC GA $2.OM $2.5M OK $1.8M $2.9M $12.3M $10.7M NM $1.4M $7.3M $4.7M $5.6M $8.0M $6.5M $7.6M $5.8M $2.7M $18.1M $27.1M 50.9M $1.4M $0.6M $1.8M $1.6M $2.9M Is8.8M 3.3M $5.OM FL $16.9M $24.8M $1.4M $7.IM $1.5M $3.7M $1.7M $3.5M| $0.9M $0.4M AK $1.9M Is0.3M D HI *Individual campaign contributions AVERAGE CONTRIBUTION One can get a pretty good idea of who's backing a candidate, and who the candidate is courting by how much the average contribution is to their campaign. In this section we break down the average size of campaign contributions to each candidate. $92,087,929 $354,065,192 $170,307,450 $78,420,929 $2,000 AND OVER $200 AND UNDER $2,000 AND OVER $200 AND UNDER $53,599,503 $23,532,530 $1,000 -$1,999 $200.01 -$499 $24,111,002 $49,881,750 $55,001,438 $49,819,992 $1,000 -S1,999 $500 -$999 $500 -$999 $200.01 -$499 OBAMA ROMNEY *Individual campaign contributions THE NATIONAL COMMITTEES AND SUPER PACS On top of the candidates' campaigns, money is also raised and spent by the national committees and super PACS. Combined, they have enough financial influence to drastically alter the political landscape without any involvement or say from the candidates themselves. NATIONAL COMMITTEES SUPER PACS WITH OVER $1 MILLION Restore Our Future $99,148,476 : Priorities USA Action $53,995,734 American Crossroads $56,122,197 SEIU $3,836,001 Americans for Prosperity $30,800,720 : Planned Parenthood Votes $3.808.435 RNC Winning Our Future $17,003,038 Florida Freedom PAC $2,814,654 Crossroads GPS $11,181,996 AFSCME $2.569.317 $323.1m Americans for Job Security $8,228,539 Workers' Voice $1,682,583 Red White and Blue Fund $7,529.620 League of Conservation Voters $1,135,369 American Future Fund $7,137,617 Moveon.Org Political Action $1,042,776 DNC NRA Political Victory Fund $5,635,140 $4,569,320 $223.3m Republican Jewish Coalition Ending Spending Action Fund $4463,307 Make Us Great Again $3.959,824 Endorse Liberty $3.417,567 Our Destiny $2.804.234 Conservative Majority Fund $2,646,716 The Next Generation $1,601,338 Susan B Anthony List $1,575,251 TOTAL TOTAL $273,645,942 $70,884,869 HOW THEY SPEND THEIR FUNDS O With budgets bordering a mega-corporation, it's no surprise that presidential campaigns spend their haul in as many places with the most impact as possible. Below is a look at just where all that "hard earned" money ends up. 10% $80.3m 12% $917m 10% $77 m 6% $44.1m 3% $23.0m MAIL PAYROLL FUNDRAISING ADMINISTRATION TRAVEL 30% $24.2m POLLING 1% s11.m CONSULTATION 2% $15.9m LISTS 51% 1% 11.9m ADVERTISING $398.0m EVENTS % $4.9m EVENTS l% $8.9m LISTS 45% 2% s16.8m CONSULTATION ADVERTISING $297.7m 1% $8.3m POLLING 40% $27. im 3% $19.7m ADMINISTRATION 12% s81.ám /% $44.2m PAYROLL 18% s116.6m TRAVEL FUNDRAISING MAIL *Includes funds from the candidates, national parties and super PACS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COSTS O in 2011 dollars If looking at these huge sums of cash being spent to become president got you wondering if something is out of whack, you would be correct. President Lincoln spent a total of $2.8 million adjusted for today to become president. Below is a look at just how out of hand election spending has become. 1860 LINCOLN'S CAMPAIGN SPENT $2.8 MILLION ADJUSTED FOR TODAY. 1896 McKinley vs. Bryan set a record for most expensive race that stood for over 60 years. 1908 Taft vs. Bryan 1932 FDR vs. Hoover 1956 Eisenhower vs. Stevenson 1960 Kennedy vs. Nixon 1964 LBJ vs. Goldwater 1968 Nixon vs. Humprey vs. Wallace 1972 Nixon vs. McGovern 1976 Carter vs. Ford 1980 Reagan vs. Carter 1984 Reagan vs. Mondale 1988 Bush vs. Dukakis 1992 Clinton vs. Bush vs. Perot 1996 Clinton vs. Dole 2000 Bush vs. Gore 2004 Bush vs. Kerry 2008 OBAMA VS. MCCAIN $300 M $600 M $900 M $1.2 B $1.5 B Sources Federal Election Commission, Washington Post, New York Times, Mother Jones BESTDEGREEPROGRAMS.ORG ENT PRESI