The earlier fund-raisers were ''more informal . . . It's after you get elected that the PACs pay attention to you,'' Carolla said. As Young discovered, contributors are more likely to give big contributions to a well-funded campaign than one that is broke. Collins said in a written statement. Collins declined repeated requests to be interviewed for this series, but agreed to respond to questions in writing.
Survival means money.
There's a real paranoia that drives this institution and the system is money. But other campaign 'necessities,' such as consultants, polls and wardrobes, can become costly, too. People who tend to vote watch broadcast television. So the broadcasting stations really have a monopoly,'' said Kevin Geddings, a Democratic media consultant based in Virginia. In Maine, winning candidates for Congress usually spend more than 50 percent of their campaign budgets on television advertising.