You Get What You Pay For

There is much analysis that has been running through my mind in the wake of the recent elections. I could blog the major party stuff, but why bother? It's all been done to death elsewhere. I'm happier to present analysis that won't be available elsewhere.

To wit, hadn't anyone in the Badnarik For President team ever seen the Austin Powers movies? One of the classic moments in the film is when Dr. Evil hatches his first crime plan after 30 years in the freezer. He looks for a ransom of, say it with me while raising your pinky finger to your lips, "one millllllllion dollars".

Team Badnarik made a big deal about their 'massive' fundraising hitting the 'magical' figure of, say it with me while raising your pinky finger to your lips, "one millllllllion dollars".

Throw me a frickin' bone! Had Team Badnarik been frozen for 30 years? The major party candidates for Attorney General in Indiana raised more than our presidential candidate. Crimony!

Team Badnarik did give us some excellent stats, though. They showed how much each candidate 'paid' per vote. From the Badnarik website:

Bush/Cheney $4.40 per vote
Kerry/Edwards $3.86 per vote
Nader $3.19 per vote
Badnarik $2.88 per vote

What you see is that the costs per vote are very similar. What you must deduce is that you get what you pay for.

If Badnarik raised $10 million dollars, I have no doubt that he would have received far more votes than the paltry sum recorded. It might not have been a direct correlation of 10 times more money = 10 times more votes. But heck, 10 times more money = 5 times more votes = a new record for votes for a Libertarian presidential candidate.

In 2008, it CANNOT be enough to nominate a candidate who simply wins the debate at the convention. It MUST be a serious focus that the nominee is committed to 21th Century fundraising, rather than 1960s level fundraising.