At What Price?

With campaigning for the next presidential election, campaigning is well under way. But at what price? Should it cost millions and millions of dollars to run for president?

Within three months of campaigning Democratic candidate Barack Obama raised 20 million dollars, and Hillary Clinton his main opponent raising over 26 million dollars thus far. Is it me, or does this seem absolutely obscene?

I think that the mere fact that elections, or rather campaigning costs so much money goes directly against the democratic ideal. It makes attaining any position in the Senate, the House, or even in the White House impossible to those that are not the 1% of the population able to afford to spend both their own, and their friends millions.

I think that elections should be free and fair...but if elections costs millions upon millions, is that free or fair? How far must we get before people open their eyes to how ridiculous this is? When will America wake up and realize that this is absurd, and should have serious limitations placed upon funds for campaigning.

Both candidates and their supporters are spending obscene amounts of money, that let's face it could probably be better spent elsewhere. Don't get me wrong I think that it is extremely important that candidates make themselves known to the public, so that we know who we are voting for, but there must be a less expensive way to do so (i.e. not spending millions and millions and millions of dollars).