Good Men Still Need Deep Pockets

Russell E. Saltzman reflects on returning to the political fray to (unsuccessfully) help a friend ran for Congress last year. “He was the sharpest and the smartest. What Rob did not have was name recognition and he couldn’t get that because he never had enough money to buy it. He routinely led the field in the number of small contributors—$200 and under—but he never led at any point in overall donations. The campaign could not buy enough television, print, or radio. Rob personally may have knocked on 25,000 doors while his opponents knocked on none, but it took money to close the deal.”