BIG Money in Politics and Media Bias in Elections

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I think I have like close to a billion dollars in the super PAC, and I'm allocating probably four or five hundred million dollars. So I'll be spending, we'll be spending.

Yeah, we're going to spend a lot of money because we don't want to lose our country. I think we have a chance of doing very well in the midterm. So whether we just say I'm going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us.

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It's The Drew Mariani Show on Relevant Radio.

Drew Mariani (0:45)

That was President Trump speaking to reporters about his huge midterm war chest.

Interesting, huh? Let's talk about this. $252 million in climbing. Who pays for American politics? I want to fill you in on what's happening here. You get one vote, right? The billionaire gets one vote. You get one vote. When it comes to the money used to influence that vote, the playing field can look very different though. More than $252 million in independent spending has already been reported in the 2026 congressional cycle by the end of March. So here's the question. Can you preserve free political speech while giving the ordinary voter a greater financial voice in the process? You know, I take a look at, I don't know what state you're listening to me in, but you look at some of these states and the money that pours into some of them, it's pretty amazing. And the question is, can it sway an election? Can you in some respects buy an election? Look at Kamala Harris. You could probably argue no. She spent a billion and a half dollars in a hundred days and didn't win. But boy, you saw the amount of money that poured into that general election. But there's something you need to understand about American elections. The campaign you see on television isn't being financed only by the candidate whose name is on that ballot. According to the Federal Election Commission data, the independent expenditures in the 2026 cycle, as I said, they've already surpassed a quarter of a billion dollars. It's crazy.

And under federal law, independent political spending is not subject to the same contribution limits that apply when you give directly to a candidate. You have these things called super PACs. We'll talk about that with my next guest, Sal Albanese. He's going to be joining me in a moment here. Super PACs can accept unlimited contributions from individuals and corporations and labor organizations and other political committees. And that is provided their expenditures remain legally independent of the candidates. Now, look, money doesn't literally buy a vote. I want to be careful about how we position this. You still walk into that voting booth. I don't care how many commercials run or how much money has been spent. You make your own decision. That's the power of your vote.

Political spending isn't, you know, political speech. You know, so, you know, well, I guess it is. Let me rephrase that. Political spending can be political speech. It really is. And some people make the case that, hey, it raises serious First Amendment questions whether the government, you know, if it attempts to restrict this, are you impeding on that First Amendment right? But, you know, if you get $25 to follow up $25 to a candidate, somebody else gives $10 million behind the political advertising. Yeah, you each get one ballot, but do you have the same ability to shape the conversation surrounding that ballot? That's really the question here. I want to talk about this because Sal Albanese, he comes in as a former New York City Council member who sponsored the New York City Small Donor Matching Fund System. And today, New York City's programs can match a qualifying city's residents' contribution at eight public dollars for every private dollar. So it's an interesting approach. There's a national proposal being advocated as well to make voters, you know, the donors, you know, proposes giving registered voters public campaign funds that they could direct towards the candidate of your choosing. Is it a good idea? A bad idea? What are they proposing? He joins me right now. And we'll take a look at it. If you want to learn more, you can check him out. He's chief political strategist for makevotersthedonors.org.

Chief political strategist for makevotersthedonors.org.

Interesting. Sal, great to have you with me. Good afternoon.

Sal Albanese (4:37)

Thank you, Drew. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

Drew Mariani (4:40)

So, unpack this. There's a lot of numbers here. There's more that we could certainly talk about.