I don't know how much campaigns are supposed to cost, so I don't know if they cost too much. But I am willing to concede that campaigns are expensive. But so are potato chips. This nation spends more on potato chips each year than it does no political elections. The truth that Senators McCain and Feingold leave untold is that to defeat an incumbent Member of Congress almost always takes a lot of money.
Incumbents have high name identification.
Incumbents can send mail for free to voters during most of the year. A challenger doesn't have any of these perks and advantages. They've got to raise their own money to pay for printing, postage, staff, and commercials to let the voters know who they are and what they stand for. But wait folks, it gets even better. The very folks who claim they want to keep money out of politics just passed an exception that says if they're running against a millionaire, the campaign limits don't apply.