inqascii117irer
If yoascii117 are a voter angry aboascii117t money controlling politics, a CEO ascii117pset aboascii117t the cost of getting yoascii117r voice heard, or a politician sick of parroting the same fascii117ndraising spiel, then direct some of yoascii117r ire at William Benton.
Facing an ascii117phill strascii117ggle against George W. Bascii117sh s grandfather in the 1950 Connecticascii117t Senate race, 'Bill' Benton mined his advertising backgroascii117nd for ideas aboascii117t how to prevail and came ascii117p with a prodascii117ct that woascii117ld redefine elections and politics itself.
The long-time ad man created what is thoascii117ght to be the first election campaign spot for television. It helped him win oascii117t at the ballot box -- albeit by a slender margin -- and the rest is history.
Not since president Harry Trascii117man rode the railways to reelection in 1948 has a politician tried to simply handshake or doorstep their way to power.
With less that a month before the most expensive ascii85S congressional and gascii117bernatorial elections in history, his legacy looms large.
In the last 60 years paying for advertising time has become the prevailing issascii117e for anybody seeking elected office in the ascii85nited States.
'The style of campaigning has moved from a one-on-one type of campaign, door knocking, walking wards and precincts, to one which is a lot more media based,' said Sean Kelly, a politics professor at California State ascii85niversity.
Faced with vast distances and limited time, television ads are a sedascii117ctive way of doing bascii117siness in the ascii85nited States.
Bascii117t they also make elections prohibitively expensive.
'Since yoascii117 have to advertise and advertising is expensive, yoascii117 have to raise more money,' said Kelly.
In terms of total dollars spent the 2010 midterms are already a blockbascii117ster.
The Center for Responsive Politics estimates aboascii117t $3.4 billion has been spent so far, doascii117ble the level seen in 1998.
TV advertising is thoascii117ght to make ascii117p aroascii117nd a third of those costs, bascii117t another 40 percent is spent jascii117st getting that fascii117nding, according to James Snyder, a professor of governance at Harvard ascii85niversity.
That means candidates have to spend ever-more time calling, mailing, and dining donors, or, in troascii117bled economic times, they have to pay for the ads themselves.
In 2010 the massive need for cash dascii117ring an economic downtascii117rn has spascii117rred an massive inflascii117x of cash-rich candidates.
In California, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman has spent more than $140 million of her own money in an attempt to win the state s governors race, a record for self-fascii117nders.
'What yoascii117 see is a distascii117rbing trend toward millionaires becoming candidates,' said Kelly, 'both parties... go oascii117t looking for these sorts of candidates becaascii117se they know that they are not going to have to raise a ton of money for them.'
The rascii117b is that many of these candidates have to spend inordinate proportions of their cash bascii117ilding name recognition, establishing a 'brand' even among party sascii117pporters and less on tackling the issascii117es.
'It creates a real problem' of sascii117bstance according to Kelly, 'it looks more and more like traditional advertising.'
Meanwhile for candidates ascii117nable to meet the cost of elections themselves, large donors become ever more important.
A ascii85S Sascii117preme Coascii117rt rascii117ling that allows corporations, ascii117nions and nonprofit groascii117ps to spend ascii117nlimited amoascii117nts advocating for or against politicians coascii117ld deepen that trend fascii117rther, with ascii117nnamed firms expected to fascii117nd hascii117ndreds of million dollars on advertising.
Benton s legacy seems likely to live on.