Large donations: a form of corruption or not?

It depends. Obviously there are many rich and corporate personalities that would love to control a president, best way to their heart is through the wallet.

Then there are the ones who just overly support the candidate to help the cause.

It takes money to start and run a campaign. Advertising, staff, and travel all take millions. Most presidents these days come from wealth. Truman back in the 50s was the last time we had a president worth less than a million. Some have more humble upbringings, but they still stand tall in the world of financial status even before running. There are no "common men" running for office who can afford to stay in the race as what speaks these days is advertising and rallies. Both cost megabucks, and they have to start off with their own funds.

When I was very young I found it odd for people running for office to put out commercials and billboards. I still hate it and don't think candidates should be permitted. In a perfect world we'd get good glimpses into their platforms and who they are as people through honest articles and coverage. But what is honesty in the media anymore? It seems to be lost. Like everything these days lines are muddied and it's hard to tell the difference between advertising and over the top support coming from a network, also possibly/probably looking for favors.

I'd like to know the percentage of large financial supporters who are attempting favor with the candidate should they win their election.

 

Ever heard of................. Charles Koch?

 

Yes. I think large donations can harbor corruption. When I was studying political science, a section of the coursework mentions the "third house". Which is the lobbyist donating funds to the campaigns and politicians pockets. These are the sort of interest groups that keep the people from being heard, because we don't have enough money to "interest" them. It may seem innocent but double sidedly can work like a bribe of sorts.

 

I wish I majored in political science to tell you the truth.

 

It definitely isn't my cup of tea but I was doing a social work major at the time, so I got this mix of psychological and economics/political science related coursework which comes together in such an interesting way. If I didn't feel so incompetent and hopeless maybe I would've finished instead of dropping out and returning to college to get a small scale AAS degree to be someone's secretary for the rest of my dull existence. If anything having volunteering in the health system made me extremely cynical and angry at humanity.