Voters need to grasp American campaigns, and money

Any number of emotions and ideas whirl in me as I continue to absorb the news about Kamala Harris, a Black American woman now one of two major party candidates to be the next president.

I am fiercely proud of her. I am also as surprised as anyone that President Biden endorsed her, even though she has been in position for the office for five years, first by campaigning for president in 2020, and then by being selected as Biden’s 2020 running mate and getting elected as vice president. Now she is a candidate for POTUS again in 2024. A Black woman.

More than Rep. Shirley Chisholm, D-N.Y., whose presidential campaign went to court to win the doctrine of equal media time for candidates, Harris is a Black woman who has a real chance of being elected. 

But I am more amazed by Biden. Over three weeks, volume and pressure for him to shelve his reelection effort amplified. The most unsure media reports were around the question of what will happen to his campaign money.

In total, he raised $232 million, and at the end of May his campaign finance report said he had $96 million left.

Just because the media didn’t know what was going to happen doesn’t mean Biden decided on impulse. He’s accumulated more than a half century of lived campaign experience. He knew.

Campaign finance law allowed him to give his campaign fund to Kamala Harris because she was already a part of his campaign.

More of us need Harris’ American political know-how. It’s a super power.

I know more about politics after my run for public office (Lansing Charter Commission: 36 candidates, nine elected on May 7. I finished 15th).

I learned especially about campaign finance. That is, money. As calls increased for Biden to stand aside, I knew if he left the race, he would have to decide what to do with the money people gave him for his reelection effort. I had that issue too.

Media tells us often enough that money is the engine of political campaigns.  “War chest,” they call it. Yet, in articles speculating on Biden’s stepping aside, a basic question was what happens to the money? Media sometimes take too much of a business approach to elections, using campaign fundraising as a predictor of who will win. The barometer of money can be right or wrong.

Without the anchor of my campaign treasurer, her job security being expertise in state campaign finance law and experience in a dozen campaigns, I might have paid a huge fine, as did another candidate. He had not even knocked on one door before he was fined $300 for not filing campaign organization papers on time. The county clerk offered campaign finance training too late, in my opinion.

In the absence of campaign finance training, consumer spending behaviors can guide actions in political campaigns, but campaign finance laws are sticky and technical. 

Before my campaign, I thought urgent email messages to “DONATE NOW,” “ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT TO DONATE” were guerilla marketing.  I Ignored them.

My campaign treasurer taught me that contribution deadlines do exist, and when deadlines are violated, campaigns are fined. The fine amount? The same as the donation.

A candidate does all that work raising money only to hand it over to the government?

Yes. 

Even politicians who should know better run afoul of basic campaign laws, one of which is that campaign funds are not candidate’s personal money. But Lee Chatfield, former Republican speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, and his wife are scheduled to appear Thursday (Aug. 1) in an East Lansing court on charges of campaign fund embezzlement.

In real life, one of the most common money transactions is a refund. but in for a political campaign a refund means something more than “it’s the wrong color.”

For instance, actor George Clooney cannot ask the Biden Victory Fund customer service department to please refund my money: OG Joe Biden does not fit me.

Contributor dissatisfaction with a candidate does not merit a refund, like in a store. Now that we have a new candidate, Clooney might be able to, in a manner of speaking, get store credit.

As the Federal Elections Commission explains online, campaign contributors receive refunds in only two situations. Neither one is wanting your money back.

One, refunds are made when checks are not deposited to the campaign account within 10 days. Then the check must be returned to the contributor, who can write a replacement check. Conveniently, electronic giving sends the money directly to the campaign account.

Second, federal law calls for refunds when individuals donate more than the law allows. This year, the amount is $3,300 per cycle (primary vs. general election), up $400 from 2022.

Trump’s May report showed no refunds. His supporters gave exact change. But in May, Biden’s campaign refunded $101,483.24. That signals love for Biden.

There is such a thing as leftover campaign money. I had some.

I wanted that money. It was me who over-caffeinated on coffee dates asking for donations.

But, my treasurer said, “The people gave you the money to run your campaign.  It’s not yours, except to spend on your campaign.” I donated my leftover money to a nonprofit, 501(c)3 foundation. 

During this sprint of a presidential campaign, I am planning for my column to be an inside look at campaigning. Americans vote, but it’s ‘bout time we understood its mechanics.

(Dedria Humphries Barker is the author of “Mother of Orphans: The True and Curious Story of Irish Alice, A Colored Man’s Widow.” Her column appears on the last Wednesday of each month.)