Increased Campaign Spending Isn't Necessarily a Bad Thing, Professor McDaniel Says

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE -- But Jason McDaniel, a Political Science professor at San Francisco State University, said increased campaign spending — from both individual donors and political action committees — isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Much of the spending from campaigns goes toward advertisements that can help increase voter turnout, and third-party spending can help underdog campaigns be more competitive. Spending “always goes up and is almost always a function that campaigns are expensive, between inflation and more candidates,” McDaniel said. But “it also increases feelings of corruption that aren’t necessarily warranted.”