One of the things I hate most about our democracy is how candidates constantly ask for political donations. It’s embarrassing. I donated $20 to Andrew Yang early on, and now I’m being asked every 2 days via email to give more to his campaign. Did you think me giving you a small donation was going to open the floodgates to my bank account? Sorry, not sorry. That’s not the way our relationship works.
I like Andrew Yang, and I plan on voting for him. I agree with almost all of his positions. What I agree with the most is his view on automation and the threat it poses to the working class. Automation has been replacing humans in the workplace for quite a while now. Most of our elected leaders have been oblivious to this fact. They also seem oblivious to the fact that this replacement rate has been increasing year after year.
A while back I wanted to get one of those MATH baseball hats Andrew Yang supporters where. I like baseball hats. I like Andrew Yang. I went to the website and found out they were $35 each with $11.59 shipping. I’ve never paid $46.49 for a baseball hat, not even for my Washington Nationals World Series hat. I know for a fact it doesn’t cost $11.59 to ship a baseball hat. That’s just silly. You cannot claim to like math if you think $46.59 is a fair price for a dad hat with four letters embroidered on it.
As much as I like Andrew Yang, I’m not the kind of person who spends almost fifty bucks on an adjustable hat.
Before asking someone for political donations, make sure they can afford it
Current federal campaign finance laws limit the amount any one person can give to a candidate to $2,800. Once you’ve donated that amount to a candidate, they cannot accept more of your money. When making an online donation, you must provide your occupation and employer. What you don’t have to reveal is how much money you earn.
I have a real problem with that.
Not everyone can afford to give $2,800 to their favorite presidential candidate. I know I can’t. I’m getting to the point where I feel as though presidential candidates see everyone who’s ever thrown them some money as a possible $2,800 donor. Candidates should make sure individuals donating to their campaigns can afford the donations they’re making. I know for a fact many of them can’t.
For example, if an individual donates to a candidate and indicates they earn the minimum wage, it might be a good idea not to email them every two days asking for more money.
When a journalist asked bank robber Willie Sutton why he robbed banks, it was reported that he said, “Banks are where the money is.” Sutton denied ever saying this, but he was a bank robber. They’re not known for their truthiness. Even if the quote was anecdotal, its sentiment was true. Like banks, rich people’s wine caves are where the money is at.
Candidates should be pestering rich people for free money, not waitresses working the day shift at Red Lobster or people driving strangers around in their personal vehicles as an Uber or Lyft driver.
Begging the working class for political donations is not a virtue. Having a large contingent of so-called “small donors” is something to be concerned about, not something to be flaunted. Presidential candidates in need of money should find wealthy supporters who align with their platform and ask for political donations.