Money Can’t Buy Happiness
And apparently, it can’t buy you a U.S. Senate seat, either. The Iowa U.S. Senate race this year is likely to go down as the second most expensive race in U.S. history. It’s estimated that $120 million came into Iowa from outside sources to benefit the Theresa Greenfield campaign. The ads were in full force during the primary season, but they did not stop then…a continuous barrage of ads to support the Democrat in her effort to unseat Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.
That money bought 47 percent of the vote, as Ernst was re-elected to a second six-year term.
A select number of Republican senators were targeted…Lindsay Graham in South Carolina, Mitch McConnell in Kentucky. The same 100-plus million dollars was spent in each of those races, and others…but the result was the same.
Republicans did not hold every one of their seats…but at least one Democrat incumbent lost, as well.
It’s more than a little comforting to think that elections are not always won by the candidate with the most money. Voters, especially in Iowa, are savvy enough to see what’s happening, and frankly too many ads can lead to a backlash.
Voters here also want to hear from their candidates, and it’s probably not a coincidence that those who shied away from radio and TV interviews, as well as candidate debates, found themselves polishing up their concession speeches last night…or are prolonging the inevitable by refusing to concede. The failure to speak to voters sort of dovetails with the failure to listen to voters when they have spoken.News/Talk 1540 KXEL · Iowa Politics — Wed. Nov. 04, 2020
