An important cultural figure of this generation once said, “It’s not about money. It’s about sending a message.”
The Joker wasn’t covering political campaigns. We’re all guilty of following the money. It’s one of the first lessons you read if you pick up any reporting textbook. The money shows you where the action is, and in political reporting, the digitization of records has made it easier than ever to follow this aspect of campaigning to, in the words of a paper I wrote for News Editing last year around this time, provide the optimal amount of context in a very brief time period.
Let’s see some examples. First, the Missourian’s coverage a few weeks ago of the October campaign reports. Interactive graphics of who’s spending what, who’s donating and how candidates compare to each other. It’s fascinating stuff for political junkies, and a virtual goldmine for story opportunities.
But, does it get beyond the horse race?
I’m guilty of it too, at the local level. At the very end of last semester, I wanted to do something crazy. I wanted to write a story about campaign finance in City Council elections in Columbia, going back several election cycles. I never got past this infographic showing where campaign donors came from and how much they gave. And it wasn’t as functional or as easy to use as I’d hoped.
There are stories here, waiting to be mined. There seems to me to be a clear pro-business lobby in Columbia and a coalition of grassroots, citizen activist donors on the other side. How do you tell that story? With data, to begin with. But that’s just the first step.
All of this is a long diatribe apologizing for what follows. I do think it’s important to have the information on campaign finance on the table. To that end, here is a breakdown of current reported contributions and spending for the candidates I identified in three close races a few weeks ago. This is the first step of reporting. But at least it’s out there.
First, a caveat. I’m not interested in total expenses and contributions below, only those reported since the end of the primary elections. For example, if I was to add up all of Scott Sifton’s receipts and expenses since his campaign began, after winning a competitive primary, it would total close to a half million dollars. But comparing that to incumbent Jim Lembke would be apples and oranges.
Show Me the Races 