By Daniel Potter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-922420.mp3
Nashville, TN – In Tennessee's race for Governor, Republican Bill Haslam is officially the big-spender--he's raised and spent millions more than Democrat Mike McWherter and Haslam also had more money than his rivals in the Republican primary. After that contest, Congressman Zach Wamp blamed his defeated on Haslam's cash, "It was endless," Wamp said.
McWherter has accused Haslam of trying to "buy the election," but McWherter has also said, "I've never seen a for-sale sign in front of the governor's office."
Haslam seems to agree with the latter statement. As an example, he points to Tennessee's 8th District where George Flynn outspent his rivals three-to-one trying to become a GOP nominee for Congress. Flynn made it the country's most expensive House primary, but he still lost.
"A lot of people who were the best-funded candidates didn't win," Haslam said.
Professor at the University of Virginia Paul Freedman says money can't legally buy votes, but it can buy just about everything else a campaign needs to attract support--staffers, mailers, polls, and, "of course," Freedman said, "campaign ads."
Freedman says T.V. ads especially are the "lifeblood" of any statewide race; and money readily converts to air time, which usually equates, in turn, to more sway among voters. So, if you have more money, "It's not at all surprising that you're going to see a bump in the polls. In fact it would be surprising if you didn't!" Freedman said.
John Rowley disagrees. Rowley is a Democratic consultant in Tennessee, although he isn't working on McWherter's campaign. Money helps Rowley says, but, "Money can't overcome a bad message or a vulnerable candidacy or a bad political environment."
Rowley see money as a "barrier," a kind of hurdle candidates have to clear to be taken seriously. "You don't have to have the most, but you have to have a credible amount of money to run a real campaign," Rowley said.
Once you get past 2 or 3-to-1 in spending, Rowley says, fund-raising becomes a kind of "arms race," where more spending starts to matter less. "Haslam ran commercials about a guy who runs a diner and talked about Haslam ordering the same pie," Rowley said, "And I guess they wanted to make him out to be just a likeable, regular guy, but at some point you start spending money on the guy who sells you pie, there's a diminishing return on that money."
The writer/director in charge of helping Haslam advertise persuasively Fred Davis' Hollywood-based company boasts of clients with brief names like Arnold' and W.' Davis says being able to outspend an opponent is a strong advantage, but it's no sure bet, because a crafty candidate can outfox one who has more money.
"Does it always work that way? Is it easier that way? No," Davis said, "But it's definitely doable."
Davis says he doesn't worry about candidates trying to "buy" elections. He says it sounds "Pollyanna-ish," but in his experience, the right person tends to win.