Funding the U.S. Presidential Election

"You'll thank me, Bruce!"

As Fowler burst into the suite, waving his arms excitedly, Bruce was engrossed in the news on the television, sipping his coffee. He responded with a chuckle, "If I didn't have faith in you, why would I be here calmly drinking coffee?"

"Guess how much we got?" Without waiting for Bruce's answer, Fowler announced with laughter, clearly too ecstatic from his triumph to leave Bruce in suspense. "One billion eight hundred million dollars! Plus 8% profit from the patent-protected new drug!"

"Sit down, tell me more. What will you drink, Fowler?" Bruce motioned to the seat beside him, signaling the overjoyed Fowler to sit.

"Wow, this is not the reaction I expected," Fowler said, taken aback. "Such a huge sum, and it doesn't excite you? You're always so composed, hardly like a young man."

"Passion doesn't always have to be shown outwardly," Bruce replied, amused. Making an ancient being, who had seen countless years and long held a dominant position, excited wasn't this easy. He pointed to the television screen, where a poised woman with slick blonde hair was confidently delivering a speech.

Bruce knew that with his current resources and influence, jumping into the political fray might be premature. However, this opportunity was too good to pass up.

Support during the critical moments of an election year would be more effective than efforts expended after the results were in.

"Alright, since you've decided, investing a bit would indeed be beneficial for establishing early connections," Fowler remarked, thinking he understood Bruce's intentions.

"No, not 'a bit'. We should contribute as much as possible to the election donations."

Election donations, essentially political contributions, are a vital aspect of U.S. politics. There's a saying, "The road to the White House is expensive," and it's been becoming costlier. Since the turn of the century, each presidential election has seen campaign expenses surpass one billion dollars. In 2012, both President Obama and his opponent, Romney, each spent over a billion on their campaigns alone. Including congressional races, the total cost that year was a record 60 billion dollars.

While capital might not completely determine an election, it certainly plays a dominant role.

"What?! Bruce, we should proceed with caution. You have to consider the return on investment."

Fowler couldn't help but gape. Political contributions are quite common in the United States, but in a major event like the presidential election, individual voters typically donate no more than a few hundred dollars. The ones willing to pour significant amounts of money tend to be large financial groups, corporations, and super-rich individuals.

These aren't philanthropists. Their investments need to guarantee substantial returns. What kind of return is Bruce looking for? He doesn't even own a company...

"The returns will far exceed your expectations," Bruce said with a meaningful glance. "We can start with a small contribution via Citibank, but mainly we need to establish our own team to manage this."

Making campaign contributions isn't straightforward. The 1975 election donation regulations prohibited big corporations, financial groups, banks, and unions from donating to candidates. According to the 1974 Federal Election Campaign Act, an individual's donation limit per election is $1000 for each presidential and congressional candidate.

An individual's donation to a political party cannot exceed $20,000, with a $5,000 limit for political action committees (PACs). The total annual allowable donation per individual is below $25,000. Donations exceeding $200 require detailed records. All of these are referred to as "hard money."

Moreover, corporations or unions are prohibited from directly funding congressional and presidential candidates' campaigns. It might seem like political contributions are strictly regulated, right? But note the word "directly."

These entities can form PACs and individual sponsorship groups to fund elections. These kinds of donations are known as "soft money" or "Soft money." Soft money can't be used for the candidates themselves but only for mobilizing votes for the party and its various organizations, and its amount is not limited. Thus, it provides a legitimate avenue for political donations.

What Bruce was suggesting, about getting involved as much as possible, was clearly to engage with these PACs funding the candidates, which would involve a significant, if not colossal, sum of money.

In the end, Bruce was the decision-maker. After offering his advice, all Fowler could do was comply.