Wealth primary

The Wealth Primary describes the race for money required for electoral politics evident in the American electoral system. Before parties choose nominees and voters decide who gets their vote, before Americans begin to think about an upcoming election, candidates enter this most important part of the electoral process.

The contemporary issue of money in politics has been determined in whole by the 1976 Supreme Court decision, Buckley v. Valeo that basically held that "money equals speech."

Critics argue that the wealth primary conflicts with the democratic vision of a first amendment protection of political speech, because money can supposedly be used to "drown out" your opponent, and the fourteenth amendment of equal protection, which includes the protection of voters to seek and vote for their candidate of their choice. In 1994, John Bonifaz and Jamin Raskin authored a booklet discussing the equal protection rights of non-wealthy candidates and more importantly, the desires of citizens who might wish to hear from and possibly vote for, these candidate who represent non-wealthy interests.

References

The Wealth Primary - campaign fundraising and the constitution - Jamin B. Raskin and John Bonifaz - 1994 Center for Responsive Politics - ISBN 0-939715-21-X

External links

* [http://www.opensecrets.org/pubs/law_wp/wealthindex.htm The Wealth primary]