Do you know what 50 million bucks can buy?

A hell of a lot of anything. That's what. Unbelievably and unabashedly, our lot of presidential candidates are spending this much in Iowa to explain, proclaim, educate, insinuate, condemn and promote the reasons why they should become our next leader.

Think about this – if we add up all the advertising/promotional $$$ that will be spent in the upcoming primaries and then during the long two party marathon run leading up to November, this figure should easily top the $1 billion mark.

How absurd. And, what a complete waste of resources that should go for something that really matters and could change many American lives.

John Edwards, you want to represent the poor? How about donating your $7 million ad spend in Iowa to soup kitchens to feed the hungry. Hillary, you'd like universal healthcare? Why not make a start of this by allocating your war chest of funds to many who are living without it. And, Mitt Romney...oh Mitt…we don't have a clue what you really believe in. But, a nice way to actually follow through on your promises to all those seniors you just courted in Florida would be to treat those who are still reeling from past hurricanes to new houses. Courtesy of your Mitt for President funds, of course.

Let's face it. No one cares about your ads, direct marketing and robo-calls. They all blur into each other at this point. In Iowa, the attacks and jabs are just plain juvenile. Please take my advice – to win universal support in this country, the candidate(s) who makes the first pledge to give away his millions and millions in advertising/marketing funds to a worthy cause (like poor orphaned children) will be absolutely adored. It's a public relations home run. And, it will be the first truly compassionate campaign strategy in this travesty of a presidential race.

Comments

[Ted]

I could not agree more. The most frustrating thing is this: no one in this country votes. The percentage of people who actually cast a vote on election day is so low it hurts to think about it, which explains why we end up electing the lowest common denominator.

To become president, all you really have to do is appeal to a small but powerful group of people who take the time to vote and encourage others - who share the same beliefs - to do the same. The people that stand to benefit the most from electing an inspiring and competent leader decide to stay at home on a election day, creating a vicious cycle of producing mediocre candidates.

All of this making the billions spent even more futile.

[Tom]

I am watching this with fascination from the UK. The spending figures getting chucked around are truly amazing. This is a huge deal... and yet we have 382 more days of George W. It seems that the extravagant life of the campaign trail could not be much more removed from the real issues the candidates discuss.

Despite this though an expert today claimed that one of Mr Edwards' adverts - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnv_J5UYmwM - was one of the most successful ever in swinging indecisive voters. If this expert is right I guess Edwards, and his backers, will think this is $7 million well spent. No wonder 50% of the country is not interested by November.

I wonder how successful Mike Huckabee's 'unconventional' campaign will be.

[ed]

Well, Huckabee won Iowa. But, that is because the religious right has a huge following there. I don't think he'll be as fortunate in a northern state like New Hampshire.

I think his awe shucks/anti establishment attitude definitely helps. But, in the end, the entire country isn't made up of Christians and this guy basically has told the country that this is the only faith that matters. So, he isn't electable.

[Doug Simon]

Ed,

It's a nice thought but imagine if Hillary Clinton tried to do that before the New Hampshire primary. She'd be ripped for attempting such a cynical ploy. Interestingly, I worked on a campaign for Mike Gordon for State Senate on the East Side of Manhattan against Roy Goodman in 1988 where he had a similar idea. Unfortunately, we didn't raise enough money to make it plausible. That being said, there was a lot of wasted money poured into Iowa when a better message might have helped. Just ask Mitt Romney.

Doug Simon www.dssimonvlogviews.com

[ed]

Interesting comment, Doug.

My concept is probably more inspirational than based on reality. It would have been quite a site though to see one of our candidates do this 6 months ago, when we weren't in such a frenzy.