Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewMost observers of presidential elections in the United States know that the ability to raise campaign funds has a direct bearing on the ability to get elected. But how many people understand how early the money chase has to begin? Michael Goff's, The Money Primary makes an important contribution to our understanding of the role of money in politics by showing how fund-raising plays a critical role in defining the field of candidates long before primary voters can have their voices heard. Anyone whohas wondered what it really takes to be a viable candidate for the nomination would benefit from reading The Money Primary. -- Lawrence Noble, executive director, Center for Responsive Politics
This is a very thoughtful, readable analysis of early presidential campaigning as well as a welcome update concerning early money and media attention. . . . Recommended. * CHOICE *
As front-loading and ever-increasing dependence on campaign cash redefine the nature and length of presidential campaigning, Michael Goff has presented a solid first attempt at explaining how presidential candidates maneuver themselves to positions of competitiveness in the early days of presidential elections. The Money Primary is a good piece of preliminary research into an area of increasing importance. Goff's conclusions, particularly that campaign finance reforms have counterintuitively made primaries less democratic, are challenging and evidently correct. * Presidential Studies Quarterly *
The year before the presidential election has become a private referendum in which the wealthiest Americans substantially pre-select and pre-determine who our next President will be. Roughly ninety percent of maximum contributions to candidates are given the year before the election, and the hottest candidate in the check-writing sweepstakes is deemed 'worthy' by the major media via hundreds of news stories and the crowning buzzword, 'momentum.' All others are dubbed losers before the first votes are cast in Iowa and New Hampshire. Michael Goff's important new book, The Money Primary, examines how the early presidential nomination process has become distorted, and what it means for our democracy. -- Charles Lewis, author of The Buying of the President 2004 and executive director of the Center for Public Integrity
Most observers of presidential elections in the United States know that the ability to raise campaign funds has a direct bearing on the ability to get elected. But how many people understand how early the money chase has to begin? Michael Goff's, The Money Primary makes an important contribution to our understanding of the role of money in politics by showing how fund-raising plays a critical role in defining the field of candidates long before primary voters can have their voices heard. Anyone who has wondered what it really takes to be a viable candidate for the nomination would benefit from reading The Money Primary. -- Lawrence Noble, executive director, Center for Responsive Politics
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 "The Money Primary" in the Early Presidential Nomination Process Chapter 3 The Early Presidential Nomination Campaign and Presidential Campaign Finance in the Political Science Literature Chapter 4 Research Plan and Methodology for Examining "The Money Primary" Chapter 5 The Cases of 1988 and 2000: The Two All Non-Incumbent Presidential Nomination Races of the Post-Reform Era Chapter 6 Early Campaign Fund-Raising Success and Candidate Viability Chapter 7 Media Coverage of Campaign Fund-Raising and Candidate Viability Chapter 8 "The Money Primary" and Presidential Selection Chapter 9 Afterword: New Directions for Presidential Nomination Reform
