A Donation Nation?

Every four years around this time I send a check (well, virtually) to the progressive presidential candidate of the year, and the promptly leap onto my Tall Equine (high horse) by putting up a post on the Instabook saying that I made a big donation and I think everyone else should also. I was about to both make a donation and do my quadly-annual righteous post and thought I would do a blog post about it, especially since this time – as opposed to every other time – the concept of democracy and the future of our country is at stake!

I am pretty convinced that simply voting is not enough. I think voting is super important (watch Iron Jawed Angels for a profound understanding of how important it was/is to some people, including my friend Brad Meiklejohn’s grandmother, who was part of that gaggle) and have probably only missed a coupla small voting opportunities on ballot measures or somesuch since I registered when I was 18 (how I could legally drive a car at outrageous speeds and endanger the lives of all those innocent people around me at 16 but could not be entrusted to cast one of zillions of ballots still befuddles me). And there have been a couple of times where I found out that people I regularly discussed/argued social issues with were not voters and -in my more righteous days – I declared that forthwith they were no longer eligible to have opinions. But….simply voting is simply not enough.

So what is enough? Years ago I volunteered to go around an upscale neighborhood to knock on doors for incumbent SLC Mayor -and future great friend Ralph Becker, who ultimately lost to – as one guy put it to me – “the girl with the hair” who ultimately was a very marginal mayor. Even though it was a non-partisan race in a liberal corner of Utah so there were two progressive candidates it was a bit of a disillusioning experience for me; people either already knew who they were voting for – for reasons they couldn’t really articulate on issues they knew little about – or didn’t give a shit. So considering that the one election in Utah that someone likeminded to me would win was disillusioning was in and of itself disheartening.

But despite my quadrennial donation to presidential campaigns, I have often said that politically-interested people tend to love to talk most about national politics, national politics rarely has an effect on our daily lives. As much as I hated Trump, I had a very fine time between 2016 and 2020, as did most of my peers, and my life over the last four years hasn’t necessarily been markedly better. But city and – in our case -county mayors and their respective councilmen and state legislators hold the keys to local transportation, taxes, and services and are the ones who have leverage – and exercise it – over our daily lives and social structures: does this restaurant we want to go to have a liquor license? Can we take a bus to the concert? Can we ride our bikes in a bike lane so we don’t get tagged? Will my kid’s school be closed down next year? Will there actually be a homelessness policy that works enough so that I don’t feel uncomfortable walking around downtown? But while most people have strong opinions about Trump/Vance and Harris/Walz, very few people can even name their state representative, senator, or city councilman, much less did they get out to vote for or against them. So….should you donate your hard-earned money to the Harris/Walz campaign, or to the guy who’s running for city council?

In terms of impact, there’s no question: in 2020 the presidential race cost $6.5 billion, and the congressional races cost $10 billion (here’s where I got that). So my $500 donation to Biden had 8 ten-thousands of a percent effect on that election. The $10B congressional election cost – spread across 435 representatives and 33 senators – meant that each congressional race cost $2.1 million, or $3,000 a day for each day they’re in office. So my quite-generous $500 donation to my woefully-gerrymandered congressional district candidate makes up .02% of their campaign. Better, but still not much.

But when the city council candidate comes by and knocks on my door and says that they are optimistic and idealistic enough to run for city council and by the way they live a mile away and their entire campaign is probably going to cost $30,000….well, my grudging hundred dollar donation goes a long ways! In Utah today we have the best possible democratic candidate for governor in a generation in Brian King: former state rep, state senator, minority leader, well-respected, good long term Mormon family stock, and an altogether great guy (who actually answers my emails?!!) and his campaign is likely – by national standards – pretty cheap, so I feel like my money goes a long ways with him.

But – to my earlier point about meeting my fellow voters – Brian will lose, and badly. I hate to say that, because he should win: incumbent Spencer Cox is such a lightweight leader whose once-in-a-great-while bursts of civility get overshadowed when he realizes that the supermajority demands fealty to All Things Trump. So….my money to Brian King goes a long ways..;.towards defeat? So is it worth it to send money to him? But what if nobody sent money to him?

And then there’s what is done with the money. Despite the advances of the interwebs, apparently TV ads are still king; according to Reuters there will be almost $13 billion spent on TV ads – 72% of all spending. And since there’s no oversight to those ads, the deep, serious, profound actors’ voices warning of apocalyptic consequences of opponents’ victories apparently have an effect? Or else they wouldn’t be making them? So that means that if I am feeling particularly exuberant about Harris/Walz and send them $1000 because it is so important to me that they win – and it is! – that means that $720 of my money is going to be spent on a TV ad during some football game or stupid reality show to try to convince both “undecided” (not sure how that can be?) voters out there in TV land to vote for them…..if they are able to get off their ass that’s sunk deeply into their couch to vote at all? eek. I am not sure I can stomach that.

But….damn, this election actually does seem to have more import than all those prior, the tenor of American society will be fundamentally based on the national political tide of power, and if you pay any kind of attention to national news you’re likely to be either dismayed at best and infuriated at worst OR mollified and somewhat comforted by that power tide for…..literally the foreseeable future.

So will I donate? The short answer is yes; I’ve given a little money to the local races, a fair bit to Brian King, and yes, I’ll donate to Harris/Walz, because damn, it’s super important to me that they win – more so than getting cool new skis or a new kayak or a fancy dinner, to put my desire into context. And I’ll do so even though my infinitesimally small donation that will go to a TV ad will literally be the least I can do, because it is something more than just voting. Because though we may not like it, voting is simply not enough.

But I’m curious…..do other folks – a very limited number who may deign to read this rant – feel the same, different about political donations, either in the past or this year? Do tell…..