Inc. For centuries, political campaigns in the U.S. have been funded privately. Candidates must raise money on their own, and in the process they incur a great deal of debt. They raise this money from individuals, interest groups and their own political parties. Evidence shows that 80 to 90 percent of the time, the candidate with the larger campaign coffer wins. Wherever one comes out on this question, the truth remains that money and politics are tightly linked.
Campaign finance is a difficult, complicated issue.
Essentially there are two main concerns. First, as discussed above, the amount of money being spent on political campaigns is enormous. Second, the sources from which political candidates get money to fund their campaign efforts run contrary to the goal of fair, democratic elections. Many fear the current system of campaign finance gives some candidates unfair advantage over others, and that advantage has little or nothing to do with one candidate's ability to better serve in public office. Worse, the process by which candidates get elected could, in fact, prevent office holders from impartially and fairly representing and serving the people who voted for them.