Self-funders strike out big time
To get a sense of how badly Meg Whitman miscalculated in investing more than $143 million of her own money in her 13-point loss in the California governor’s race against Democrat Jerry Brown, it’s useful to parse her spending:
Her cost per vote: $47. His cost per vote: $6.34.
Continue ReadingPOLITICO 44
Her cost for each losing percentage point: A little more than $11 million.
The amount of personal net worth flushed away: About 10 percent.
Whitman’s spectacular crash-and-burn on Tuesday shattered all self-funding records, including the $108 million Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent to gain a third term as New York’s mayor.
But at least Bloomberg defied the self-funder’s odds and won.
Whitman, a Republican who was CEO of eBay, joins an ever-expanding roster of the wealthy who try to pave their way to high office with their own greenbacks.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, only one of the eight candidates running for Congress who contributed more than $3.5 million to their own campaigns stood amid the confetti and balloons on Election Night.
The biggest loser was Republican Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, who spent about $47 million of her own cash on an unsuccessful quest to gain a seat in the Senate.
Beyond McMahon, the 2010 Losing Class includes Democrat Jeff Greene, a billionaire who spent $24 million in a fruitless quest to win the Democratic Senate nomination in Florida, and Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who lost $5.5 million and the race against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
The one winner in the group is Republican businessman Ron Johnson, who beat Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), one of the Senate’s most ardent champions of campaign finance reforms that would limit the role of big money in federal races.
Johnson’s victory, however, could well be attributed to the fact that he ran a hybrid fundraising operation. He put in $8 million but still raised another $4 million, which helped to generate volunteers for his campaign and created a path for supporters to feel invested in it.
Jennifer Steen, an expert on self-financers at Arizona State University, said, “The common thread among losing self-funders is inexperience, and they all started their campaign with serious deficiencies and some naïveté about their deficiencies. Others might call that arrogance or hubris.”
Whitman’s financial folly is all the more incredulous in that she did it in a state that has firmly and repeatedly rejected wealthy candidates who dig deep into their own bank accounts to turn their political dreams into realities.
In 1998, it was Al Checchi who spent $40 million to come in second in the Democratic governor’s primary. In 1994, it was Republican Michael Huffington who threw away $28 million in a failed Senate bid. In 2006, Steve Westfly’s $40 million only got him second in the Democratic governor primary. And Whitman’s primary opponent, Steve Poizner, lost $24 million in his effort to defeat her.
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Jeanne Cummings
Readers' Comments (66)
amherstroad Party: Libertarian
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Nov. 3, 2010 - 7:52 PM EST
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Read all 66 comments in our forumHA HA. Maybe She will take the rest of "her wealth" and move it out of California! She's got a whole lot more to move than MoonBat! And California hasn't even seen its bottom on what to be lost.
We Amerians are Not Going To Bail You Freaks Out... gotta it?
Meg, Carly: California doesn't apparenlty doesn't need these women/achievers.... but there are good American States who do! Carly & Meg: Bring your business to the heartland. We will work and respect you..
Hey, California: How's that unemployement working out for you!
LOL,
Congress needs a new law.
SIX months for campaigning.......SIX months..!!!
I'm tired of NEW Congress members, having to spend their TIME at the phone bank, one day each week, in Washington, begging for donations.
You want to talk about Wall Street and the MONEY?
Ask the advertisment companies/corporations how much money THEY make out of politics?
GET MONEY OUT of POLITICS.
NOW.
California, Maryland, Connecticut and New York needs some intense GOP attention for the next election cycle, and these three can provide insight and direction in that process. All three were competitive even though they were novices, but novices don't stay novices forever. These battles were lost, but the major campaign was a decisive success, and these three can help lay the foundations for the next wave come 2012.
These candidates were in the wrong race, in the wrong state. California will never go conservative, and Whitman and Fioria are not classical conservatives. They were California conservatives. Gov. Brown did a horrible job when he was Gov the first time, the state deserves what they get. If I was Fiorina and Whiltman, I'd bail out of the state. We will witness the fall of the Golden Goose in the next ten years. They had their chance to try to turn around their finances, and like good socialists, they'll be crawling to the rest of us for help. Gov Brown, I hope you have lots of weed to smoke, your going to need it.
What a waste, seriously.
This is the best you can come up with?. Jerry Brown ran a creepy campaign but the people of California bought it hook line and sinker. These women are all awesome and can you be a little bit postive in the huge Republican wins.
Talk about sour grapes!
If I were these two women, I'd move my rear end out of that disaster of a state. 100 billion in debt, no chance of ever getting out with the unions running the state house and I'll wager that Gov elect moonbeam and that harpy that the morons who live in the cereal state (fruits, nuts and flakes) put back in the Senate will be begging Obama for a bail out. The Republican house better let those fools sink and not give them one red cent. Where in the hell is the San Andreas fault when you need it. Maybe a good earthquake would seperate CA from the rest of the country. Then we could give it to Red China, it would fit right in.
Hopefully they all discovered that you can't buy your way into high office. You need the Chamber of Commerce to help you buy it.
Now how dumb can you be. These are rich women and have no common sense. She spend 124 Million of her own money for her election, and never for a moment thought that an average person says how can she spend 124 Million when I don't have a pot to pee in and doesn't she want that investment back? and how many crooked deals does she have to make to get that investment back? Give me a break. This makes you almost like the entitelment queen. The other one is a Millionair and has health issues, don't you think she should take care of her health, instead of running all over the state and not taking care of herself. I guess she figured once she is in Washington she can take off anytime she feels like and take care of herself and let her secretary answer the phone. Neither one should have won.
We should not vote for self funder. They don't spend their own money for charity. They want it back from crooked lobbyists. it just shows how much money you can make in government which always has to originate from the taxpayer.
Worth every penny each of you ScumQueens lost!!!
Dear Meg:
Next time, buy your own country because:
a. It's cheaper
b. You won't need to vote for yourself, since you've never liked voting to begin with.
Whitman asked for my vote:
"Get to the polls
You know I won't"
Queen Meg , Carly Fiorina and the denigrater of women Linda McMahon have all learned a similar message this election season . YOU CAN NOT ALWAYS BUY AN ELECTION ..... And Meg , you should have exercised your voting rights in elections many more years earlier than now , when you decided to throw your hat in the political arena , also you should have not been hiring illegal immigrant housekeepers and groundskeepers .
California - disaster?? you guys need to turn off the Fox News. I love it here. Giants defeat Texas - yes! Take that George W. The weather is gorgeous. Nice job. plenty of equity in the house. it's great. I walk outside my office and am surrounded by beautiful women from around the world. California has always had booms and busts - we always recover and believe me we don't want or need your help.
I am just glad Carly lost. In this economy jobs are crucial and this hypocrite talked a lot about creating jobs, HOWEVER, back in her HP CEO days she said no one has a right to have a job, as she was shkpping jobs left and right overseas. Calif. got lucky on that one. As for Meg and Linda they would have been awesome as gov and senator. I do think that all the money these people spend is ridiculous and I wish this kind of spending would stop.
These 3 wealthy ladies (and I use that term loosely) have thrown away hundreds of millions in an attempt to purchase the people's seats. This is totally karmariffic! Too bad the crony capitalist from Florida couldn't join these 3.
A fool and her money are soon parted.
Wallow in it, California...as a matter of fact, SUCK ON IT!
It's YOUR state that's 140 billion in the crapper.
It's YOUR state whose unemployed exceed the national average.
It's YOUR state that can't corral enough pot heads to pass a "dope smokers initiative."
What a sadass place. I agree with posts above which encourage Whitman and Fiorina to pack their wealth out of your Marxist state.
The state of Kali-for-nia and Baraqi Obangi deserve one another.
Californians were offered a brain; they refused it. That's fine, they can have Jerry Moonbeam. Now the Democrats will control it all in California. And what will they do? What they do best, of course: run up debt. You can try to tell someone wisdom, but if they won't hear, they will learn it by painful experience. When the prisoners are let out and the teachers and police force are laid off, their common sense will return. Obama will want to bail them out as part of his 2012 plan, but if he touches that, there will be hell to pay in every other state. Come 2012, they will realize the opportunity they squandered. Controlling it all, Democrats will have no one to blame but themselves. Californians really didn't deserve the caliber of candidate Meg Whitman presented. However, Californians will eventually learn, but the price for that lesson will be crushing.
I think such self-funders should be encouraged to continue their spending on losing political races. It is very good for the economy in the short term, and does no harm to politics so long as they lose. In Michael Huffington's case it also brought his then wife, Ariana, to the attention of the media. (My wife likes her accent, says it reminds her of Eva Gabor in Green Acres)
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