This isn’t (much) of a problem if you think that the difference between how the two campaigns use money is in expectation neutral. It is a bigger problem if you think there might be systematic differences in how campaigns use money that correlate with better candidates/policies, especially if the correlation is positive. For example, if you think more competent campaign staff translates to more competent political appointees, or if you think it’s easier to use money to campaign for true/good things than for inaccurate/bad things, or if you think the default state (without additional money in politics) is worse.
At least anecdotally, I’ve heard that the last one is a serious problem: in some countries, opposition activists really like the option of eg, buying Facebook ads where the central information source (eg.state mass media) is regime-controlled. (I don’t know how big a problem this is in the US, or in practice in those countries for that matter).
More broadly, I think we should maybe reflect on the (the wildly unpopular, but nonetheless endorsed by the highest court in the US) idea that “money is speech,” and that limiting speech (including in voluntary ways) has a large host of unintended consequences, some of which may not be positive.
This isn’t (much) of a problem if you think that the difference between how the two campaigns use money is in expectation neutral. It is a bigger problem if you think there might be systematic differences in how campaigns use money that correlate with better candidates/policies, especially if the correlation is positive. For example, if you think more competent campaign staff translates to more competent political appointees, or if you think it’s easier to use money to campaign for true/good things than for inaccurate/bad things, or if you think the default state (without additional money in politics) is worse.
At least anecdotally, I’ve heard that the last one is a serious problem: in some countries, opposition activists really like the option of eg, buying Facebook ads where the central information source (eg.state mass media) is regime-controlled. (I don’t know how big a problem this is in the US, or in practice in those countries for that matter).
More broadly, I think we should maybe reflect on the (the wildly unpopular, but nonetheless endorsed by the highest court in the US) idea that “money is speech,” and that limiting speech (including in voluntary ways) has a large host of unintended consequences, some of which may not be positive.