Rich Candidates Abound as Presidential Campaign Costs Rise
US INFO correspondent Ralph Dannheisser outlines yet another benefit of being rich: election to public office.
The 2008 candidates are rich:
Chances are strong that the next U.S. president will be a millionaire. All three Democratic front-runners and all four of the top Republican contenders fall into that category.
And access to loads of campaign money is more important than ever:
Access to funding has assumed tremendous importance in this era of almost nonstop election campaigns and huge advertising expenses. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent in the current presidential campaign cycle.
Data released October 12 by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) shows that, with the election more than a year off, the 18 Republican and Democratic presidential candidates already have raised nearly $300 million and spent almost half of it.
