Make the Money and Run

Politics is not a game for the weak of heart--nor the light of wallet. By most accounts, it costs at least $100 million to be seen as a viable presidential candidate, no small sum. And big spending isn't limited to national campaigns: Current New Jersey governor Jon Corzine spent $63 million in his 2000 Senate race, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City spent $68,968,185 on his 2001 mayoral campaign.

What these two examples have in common, of course, is that both men are rich enough to bank-roll their own candidacies. Whether it's Mitt Romney, Steve Forbes, or Ross Perot, recent decades have seen a growth of self-funded, mega-rich candidates. This trend is part and parcel of a New Gilded Age where huge sums of capital accumulate amongst a top tier of society that constantly sets the bar higher and higher when it comes to wealth and spending.

The rise of self-funded candidates raises a lot of questions. How many of them are there? How successful are they--do they actually win? And, generally speaking, just how rich are today's politicians, anyway?

Sheila Krumholz, Executive Director of the Center for Responsive Politics, tackled these concerns at TCF's "Billionaires and Their Impact" conference earlier this summer. Below is a brief video highlight of her comments.