Election

In today’s political environment it takes a lot of supporters, money, and hard work to get elected. The political environment is very demanding and is a very prestige system. In order to get elected one needs a big group of supporters. This would include political parties. Every candidate needs a political party. A political party is an organized group of people with at least roughly similar political aims and opinions, that seeks to influence public policy by getting its candidates elected to public office. The political parties have a huge impact on the outcome of the elections. Since in every election it is primarily a two sided party system either republican or democrat, political parties decipher between the two. Political parties join groups of people who have the same point of views or beliefs of how the government should be run. They then try to influence the government by having its members elected to a government position. In order to influence people or the government of who should be elected it takes a lot of money. Soft money and hard money are both used in today’s election. Soft money is essentially donated to political parties and in a sense leaves the contribution unregulated. Since soft money is not regulated by election laws anybody can give donations in any amount they prefer and give it to a political party for a purpose of party building which includes ads that educate voters about issues. However, in the ads that are made they may not tell voters which candidate to vote for. As for hard money, it is from political donations that are indeed regulated by law through the Federal Election Commission. This in other terms means that donations can only come in certain amounts and they have to follow all the rules and regulations that the Federal Election Commission imposes. In contrast to soft money, when making ads with hard money they may specifically tell voters who to vote for. Hard money and soft money are essential for elections. They gain money for each campaign, add advertising, and most of all gain VOTERS! Since money is power it is crucial for candidates to get and raise as much money as possible. Through recent years money has had a big impact on who wins the election. Besides from soft and hard money candidates can receive money from the Political Action Committees also know as PAC. Any corporation, labor union, trade association, or other organization may establish a Political Action Committee. PAC’s are allowed to give up to 5,000 dollars to a candidate committee per election and along with that they can also give up to 15,000 dollars annually to any national party committee per year. Also, PAC’s can receive up to 5,000 dollars from any one individual. The role that the PAC plays on an election is that it raises and spends money in purpose to elect and defeat candidates. Through the PAC candidates have a chance to become on top and be the number one spot. Besides from the money playing a role in the election, media has a big impact on the outcome as well. Media bias is an angle or slant that a person or an organization puts on a story or situation. When it is election year networks posts many stories that pertain to each candidate. They are able to put any twist they want on their stories which through a candidates eyes could be a good thing or a very bad thing. Through the media bias it allows each candidate to become advertised, which is vital for each candidate. When all said and done it is ultimately up to voters of whom they want to lead their country. I fully believe that this method solely democratic. Each individual is given freedom to vote for whoever they want. Yes, there is media and parties to persuade their decisions but when it comes down to it, it is their decision. They have the freedom to do what they want, which also means they do not have to even vote. That brings me to the last aspect of elections, is the voting turnout. Voting turnout is the percentage of eligible individuals who can actually vote. Among these eligible individuals only 50 percent actually participate. This is an exceptionally low turnout, but I feel it is good for America. First off, if everyone had to vote then it would be an unfair turnout. The people would just vote for any individual that they know nothing about. People would be carless with their votes and the wrong candidate could win. It is good that the people that do vote, do, they study who they want to vote for and are dedicated to it. Then last America gives its people freedom, if they do not want to vote they don’t have too! It is good that the few people that do vote really mean it and are sincere.