Summary
The 2016 election is revising the political playbook – from the causes and consequences of polarization to the roles of media and money, a Stanford scholar says.
Worldview Stanford recently interviewed Nate Persily, a professor of law and political science at Stanford. This is the first installment of Wide Angle: Election 2016, a Stanford media series that offers scholarly, nonpartisan perspectives on the forces shaping the election. Persily studies the law of democracy, including such issues as voting rights, campaign finance, political parties and redistricting. He is the James B. McClatchy Professor of Law.
This presidential election is distinctive, in part, because of the two candidates: a political outsider and a woman. What else makes it unique that may not be so obvious?
This presidential election campaign is really rewriting the rules of campaign finance. For those people who thought that money was the currency that would predict who was going to be the candidates, I think that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have really changed the game. While the presidential election is unique and isn’t necessarily determinate of all elections, we’re seeing a lot of new things. The fact that someone like Jeb Bush could spend $140 million and basically have nothing to show for it is one example. That Donald Trump could spend almost none of his money but get $2 billion worth of free media attention is an unprecedented phenomenon. Then Bernie Sanders, who was able to launch a competitive campaign with millions upon millions of contributions of about $27 on average, is also showing what’s possible even under the system that allows for large donors to spend a lot of money.
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