Alexandria, VA – The Center for Competitive Politics (CCP), America’s largest nonprofit working to promote and defend First Amendment rights to free political speech, assembly, and petition, today noted that Vice President Joe Biden is approaching what would be the shortest campaign length of any major party nominee, excluding sitting Presidents, since the passage of the 1974 amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA).
Since contribution limits were first imposed, the average successful nominee, based on the 2016 calendar, announced over three months ago on July 13. Then-former Governor Ronald Reagan declared for the Presidency on November 13th, 1979, or 357 days before Election Day, the shortest campaign duration since federal contribution limits went into effect in 1975. The equivalent date this year would be November 17th, 2015.
“Candidates feel pressure to announce for President earlier and earlier as a direct result of low contribution limits, and that’s too bad,” said CCP President David Keating. “The original contribution limit of $1,000 is worth over $4,400 in today’s dollars, meaning that the first contribution limit was worth 64% more than the current one. We should raise or eliminate contribution limits so that potential candidates like Joe Biden can raise enough funds to better compete against other candidates who have tossed their hat into the ring earlier.”
A recent CCP study demonstrated that since the federal candidate contribution limits were first implemented, the average duration of Presidential campaigns by the eventual party nominee has increased dramatically – by nearly 200 days. More stringent limits mean that potential candidates can no longer wait as long to declare their candidacies. For example, the late November 1967 entrance of Eugene McCarthy into the Democratic primary – launched with funding from only a few wealthy donors – was instrumental in forcing President Johnson from the race. Such an event has not been duplicated in today’s highly regulated environment.
To view CCP’s study on the impact of federal contribution limits on the length of Presidential campaigns click here.
