Interest Groups

11/17/2013

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/10/special_interest_groups_exert_growing_influence_in_nj_campaigns.html

Follow the URL above and read the article titled "Special interest groups exert growing influence in N.J. campaigns".

After reading the article, what do you think about the impact of interest groups on political campaigns? Interest groups are supposed to be independent, but are they really? Do you think that the money these groups "donate" gains them some control or influence over the candidates they support? Is that fair for most of the public that cannot donate a million dollars to a campaign? What about the money they donate to campaigns, should their be limit on how much can be donated?

39 Comments

LoganS -1

11/18/2013 04:13:12 am

I think that interest groups play an important role in political campiganing. The interest groups are headed by those who have the most influence in them. The money they donate does win them some favor with the candidates they support. Even if someone cant contrubute large amounts of money, they could join a group with a large amount of money that they support. Its understandable that most people cannot contribute large amounts of money. They should be limited on the money they can donate because otherwise they can sway the election based on who has more publicity, and such.

Christian-G 2

11/18/2013 10:22:30 am

I think the effects that interest groups have on a campaign are of great proportion. These interest groups can fuel millions, billions, maybe even trillions of dollars to support a cause or campaign. Although there title may claim to be independent they often work through and for others. In saying this the money they generate gains them much unfair influence over government and the people. This country is supposedly based off of the people, but with interest groups it seems that it always goes back to money. I do no believe it is entirely fair if one campaign member is supported with millions of dollars for their fund, while the other has very little. I can understand it if there is a little more funding for a more favorable candidate but if you have interest groups fueling you with millions I believe there should be some restrictions.

Jack Hemstrom 2nd Hour

11/18/2013 11:11:16 pm

Interests Groupds have a huge influence of our political systems and it may be becoming too much to be fair to all other interests. Although if a group has millions to spend on donating money to campaigns then they usually have a lot of support from their own members and a strong belief in what they want. Sometimes the groups with a lot of support but small funds to donate are the ones that are at risk for not being supported in our governments actions. It would be helpful putting a limit on donations but these interest groups are only trying to get support for their ideas so they shouldnt be contained. At least these groups should spend their money on more fair things that will also influence the public and government like reasearch on their belief or advertisement instead of campaigns.

sam peruski 2nd hour

11/19/2013 07:09:51 am

The interest groups play a huge role in political campaigns. they help you run a campaign lots of money. they are independent. they do donate and support campaigns .It's not fair for other because not a lot of people don't have millions of dollars to a campaign. there should be a limit because it's showing you that they are rich and want attention.

Linda D- 5

11/19/2013 08:34:49 am

I think that interest groups have an important role in political campaigns. They work for others through campaigns so even thought their called independent, I wouldn't say completely independent. Yes, the money these groups donate gains some control and influence over the candidates they support. i think it can be understood that not everyone can donate due to there own issues. They should be limited on the money they can donate because too much money can give out more of a public outcome.

Noah Ganfield

11/20/2013 03:58:52 am

The impact of interest groups is great in today's political world. Although they claim to be independent, the actions of many of these groups is contrary to that ideal. Financial power has become a significant determining factor. The more money a group has, determines how much power the group has. The people in the interest groups should be able to make personal donations but corporations and unions should not be able to pile the money and make huge donations. The personal donations should have no cap but corporations should only be aloud $50,000 donations a campaign.

chris wisnieski hr1

11/20/2013 09:29:04 am

I believe that interest groups play a large role in the campaigning. interest groups follow who has the most money which i believe is un fair because that means someone could be the best at running but if they don't have any money they won't win so it gives them an unfair advantage. I think they should be limited on how much money can be spent, the more money you have the better chance their is that you win.

Hannah H-5

11/20/2013 01:12:41 pm

I think Interest Groups have an unnecessary role in our government's politic campaigning. Their role is so large that they have the power to influence very large amounts of voters by how much money one donates. Politics should not have anything to do with donations or popularity contests. Interest Groups that claim to be independent should stay that way and be open and honest about how they are supporting candidates. The rich and wall-street people practically own campaigns because of the large sums of money they donate, I think their should be a cap on the amount of donations, you shouldn't be donating to a cause with no purpose. Also donating money to gain popularity is unfair for those who do not have the money to donate. Politician's campaigning needs to go back to being fair for the public.

MirandaL- 1

11/21/2013 05:00:02 am

I think that interest groups play a huge role in polital campaigns. With out then there would not reall by any campaigning. Some interest groups say they are independent, while others are not, I think that interest groups are not independent because they rely on people running for elections, and need help getting there name out there. Yes, I do think that the groups who dontate gain some control or influnce over the candidats they support. They may have a say on what the money they are donating is going towards, and tell them how to do it. Also some people who dontate have bussinesses and they want there bussiness logo on the campaign somewhere to help their company out. I do not think it is fair to the public who cannnot donate a millions of dollars to campaign. There are some good smart people out there that would make great leaders but dont have the money to get there name out there and be heard. While the people with all the money helps a guy out who is not a smart as the other person but still wins do to money. I think it should be fair to the public. I also think there should be a limit on how much you can donate and spend on campaigning. This would also help make it fair.

Saranda B-1

11/21/2013 05:17:05 am

I think that interests groups have a big role in campaigning. The interest groups work for others. The money they win I think does win over they people they support. It should be fair and there should be a limit on how much you spend on donating and campaigning.

Nick B-5

11/21/2013 06:10:49 am

Interest groups have made a great impact on political campaign today.although they claim to be independent.. Money power has become greatly important. They help out others and money they win helps gain support of others. I think they should be limited on the amount of money they can spend.

Ali T - 1st Hour

11/21/2013 06:12:32 am

Interest groups have a huge impact on political campaigning. Without all the money that interests groups donate for campaigning, politicians would not have nearly as many advertisements and it would be much harder for candidates to get their name out there to the public. Although interest groups are supposed to be independent, they are not because one of the most effective ways that they raise awareness about their particular group is through politicians. The money that the interest groups donate to political campaigns has a huge effect on how much power and control they have. In today's world, money is power and candidates running for office want that power that the interest groups offer. There should be a strict limit set on the amount of money that interest groups can donate because it is not fair and it is a waste of money.

cheyennek-2

11/21/2013 06:33:28 am

1. What do you think about the impact of interest groups on political campaigns? I think that it’s nice that a group will support and believe in a candidate enough to donate money to help them win an election, but sometimes interest groups seem to have too much of an impact on political campaigns. The amount of money they donate makes the outcome of elections unfair; some people no longer get what they want because interest groups have such an abundance of power to influence campaigns.

2. Do you think the money the groups donate gain some control or influence the candidates they support? Yes, absolutely. If a group donates thousands of dollars there is no doubt they will influence a candidate in some way. They will most likely gain the candidates favor and the candidate will attempt to repay them for their assistance by meeting their needs once they are elected.

3. Is it fair for most of the public who can’t donate a million dollars? No. Since the majority of the public cannot donate millions of dollars to whomever or whatever they support, the majority may not get what they want.

4. Should there be a limit on how much can be donated? Yes, because if an interest group donates a certain amount, they can guarantee a candidate to win even if there are people who still do not support that candidate or who didn’t once and won’t again in the future. An interest group shouldn’t be able to donate more than maybe a few thousand dollars. A million dollars is way too much.

Corinn Palmer 5th

11/21/2013 07:04:37 am

Interest groups do play a big part in politics. They influence the decisions of many voters. Throughout all of its campaigning and persuading interest groups bring in a lot of money. With this money it can be used for advertisements for the candidates. The money is what plays a huge role in interest groups. It is supposedly an independent job however interest groups do a lot for and with others. It does not seem entirely fair for some politicians to have the benefit of an interest group bringing in thousands of dollars while others may not.

Kat O.-1

11/21/2013 07:10:23 am

Interest groups play a major role in political campaigning because they bring in a lot of money which goes towards political advertisements. No, it is not fair in my opinion that not many people have a million dollars to donate to political campains. There should definitely be a limit on how much money can be donated and spent on campaigning to make it fair.

Mike Van Valkenburg

11/21/2013 08:07:38 am

Interest groups play a major role in politics today. Depending on the strength of the interest group financially they can strongly influence the public with advertisements. I don't believe its fair they should have a regulation of around 3-5 million dollars in interest group campaigns. No they are not independent showing the amount of people contributing to them.

Jacob M-2

11/21/2013 08:30:07 am

Interest groups do play a huge role in politics.They can majorly influence the public, they also can donate to multiple candidates so long as they have the fiances, and the interest groups can be at odds with each other over certain topics. I do believe its fair that we can donate to congressional campaigns, because we live in a capitalist society, and whoever wants their cause to be number one should be able to donate, its determination really.

JacobB-1

11/21/2013 08:41:24 am

I believe interest groups have too big of an impact on political campaigns. There shouldn't be one candidate who gets a fraction of the publicity just because they don't have the interest group with millions of dollars to back them up. I don't believe interest groups are truly independent, because they will back a candidate heavily and almost work for them. I believe the money they donate to the candidates gives them a lot of control over what the candidates do, because they wouldn't give them so much money if they didn't get some control in return. It isn't fair that most of the public can't donate so much money, because it just means that the public won't have as much of an influence on politics because the interest groups are almost "running the show". I believe the amount of donations should most definitely be limited, it would balance out the publicity, and support for candidates, and the results of elections would be based more on public approval of an official, not how much money the interest group that supports them has.

Tyler Z-5

11/21/2013 08:52:07 am

Interest groups have a huge impact in political campaigns these days. Interest groups are supposed to be independent but are really just filtering the funding from large private "donations". I definitely think that the money they support the candidates with causes them to have some control over the person's future decisions in office. However, I do believe that it is fair that not everyone can donate a large sum of money because then America's rich like Donald Trump, for example could own several congressmen. I do think that interest groups should have a cap on how much they can donate to a candidate, just so that it is fair.

Noah R - 2nd

11/21/2013 08:53:50 am

I think interest groups play a significant role in relation to campaigns. In fact, the group in the article were literally funding the whole thing while remaining unknown, not only does this strike me as an unfair advantage this person has over the other candidate, but where is the money coming from, perhaps an illegal source? Furthermore, these particular interest groups should not give the have the power through money to literally keep a person in office! In addition, I do think these interest groups have some sort of control of this candidate after they give them this money, because something tells me it isn't quite from the goodness of their heart. Finally, the fact that the public, people who actually choose the person they want, can not donate anywhere near the amount of money they receive from interest groups is thoroughly unfair indeed. In conclusion, there should definitely be some sort of roof so to speak on the amount of money these people can gross because perhaps one candidate has better private interest groups than another.

Dr. Dylan A -2nd

11/21/2013 08:57:20 am

i think that interest groups that donate a lot of money to campaigns do have power over the candidates. Because they could threaten to pull all money going to them. by doing this they could influence the candidates to do things that benefit that group only. I think that you should not be allowed to donate any money to a campaign or candidate at all. Have the entire campaign fair and uninfluenced.

Nick H-2nd

11/21/2013 09:15:02 am

I think interest groups play an important roles in campaign because they give money to campaign and everyone is always looking for money. Also interest groups should stay independent if they were suppose to be independent, but they are still giving money to campaign which means they are independent they favor aside. Yes because people see who these group are supporting and don't want to look different from the group. This isn't favor because this is only helping the groups that have enough money to give. There should be a fair amount limit that every group has a chance at.

Fiona N - 1

11/21/2013 09:28:17 am

Interest groups can and do effect the campaigns and elections of government officials. Given that they can donate any amount of money to the candidate(s) they like, they can change the political game greatly. A candidate with more money means more publicity, and the more people know your name, they more likely they will vote for you. Also, interest groups can endorse a certain political party/candidate by using media such as commercials on television and radio. Even though interest groups represent the public, it is only a minority, and so their power is inflated by their money. The general public has virtually no chance to compete with the power of the interest groups, and so the interest group's endorsed candidates are the ones seen. In essence, it depends on how much money a candidate has, not their political experience or expertise.

Deanna-2

11/21/2013 10:19:38 am

I believe that money always has an influence on people whether they believe it or not. No interest groups are not independent because they have different people donating money to their causes. No because all the candidate wants is the vote and if they get many donations to help them they will take it. I believe that it is fair people have the choice to donate that much you can always donate some and you will be helping. No there shouldn't be a limit on how much you can donate. I believe this because if people want to waste millions of dollars on something that may or may not will go for it.

Hannah H-2

11/21/2013 10:44:54 am

I think that interest groups play a huge role in political campaigns. Without interest groups elections would be totally different. I believe that interest groups say they're independent but they really aren't. They need the support from the candidates to get people to find out about their group so they definitely aren't independent. I think money does make a big impact on how interest groups are supported because the candidates need money for their campaigning so the more that they donate the more they get their name out there. I don't think its fair to the public because maybe a business wants more business but they can't donate money to a campaign to get more business. While it is unfair that interest groups can get support from donating money like this I don't believe that there should be a limit just because some groups can truely help the public unlike some of the pointless groups so there shouldn't be a limit on the amount of money that can be donated.

Duane K-2

11/21/2013 10:52:20 am

Interest groups play a major role in political campaigns. Interest groups work for others through campaigns so they are not completely independant. Money for sure plays a big role in interest groups. Without interest groups money polititions would have alot less advertising. It doesn't seem fair to average people campaigning who cannot use millions of dollars to advertise but they could also have an interest group fund their campaign. No there should not be a limit on how much can be donated.

MarcelloC-2

11/21/2013 11:13:39 am

Interest groups play a huge roll in the political campaign in positive and negative ways. I believe that interest groups are not independent and not fair in any way for someone to win an election. If someone has financial advantages and is able to get more commercials, billboards, and ways of getting their name out there does NOT make them the better candidate. It simply means that they have more money, whether its coming independently or not. Just because you have money to spend does not mean the ideas or concepts you are promoting are the best for the citizens and also does not mean you are being honest with what you are promoting. If you were to say your goal is to better the education system and end up getting elected to only find out you did not fulfill your goal means time was wasting. Interest groups also are negative because you can share negative things about the competition which is not the right thing to do, even though people do it anyways. Although interest groups are mostly negative, in the end the over all goal is to get the word out there that you are trying to run for the election which is a positive thing

AdamW- 1

11/21/2013 11:26:14 am

Interest groups are a critical role in political campaign. Interest groups are not always independent. The money that interest groups donate, such as an ad for a candidate, is a huge amount of help and can help the group get a office-holding person who supports the groups views. It isn't fair that anyone else can pay for ads, it leads to unequal representation. There should be a limit to try to make representation as equal as possible.

Lea Z - 1

11/21/2013 12:27:48 pm

I believe that interest groups are a major influence on the political system. Depending on the situation and what their ideas are it can become unfair. If a huge amount of people believe in a certain interest group and they are helping a candidate with their campaign then that is perfectly fine because it would then represent fairly. It becomes unfair when certain individuals part of an interest group help fund without a vast majority being part it can make it hard for the majority to win while the minority has full paid ads. I feel that they should put a ban where only interest groups with a vast majority of people being part can be sponsored by a person in politics. This would make it so that privately funded small groups can not be overwhelming when it doesn't have the whole society's ideas in mind. There should also be limit on how much they ca pay into ads. The average public can not fund something as large as an interest group. IN doing so it can create a more equal playing field so that all voices can be heard.

Christian B - 2

11/21/2013 07:27:10 pm

I think interest groups impact political campaigns heavily. Although interest groups are said to be independant, they really aren't because they work together with political candidates to benefit themselves in some way. When they "donate" to these political candidates, it indeed influences them to help or favor these interest groups and their views. It is extremely unfair for those who do not have the crazy budgets like some interest groups do. I think there should be a limit on the budgets for political campaigns because then the ones who are rich will get their power limited.

Leah n 2

11/21/2013 08:19:51 pm

I think interest groups play a large part in campaigns. Even though they are au post to. Independent, they really aren't because they work with the candidates. They make donations to particular people and that gives then power over them because without money there is no campaign. They should have no limit because it's a donation and it's not fair that everyone can't donate but then again life's not fair.

Jake Kulczycki

11/21/2013 08:20:59 pm

Interests groups have a huge effect on the political systems. They can work on their own but some of them are involved with the government.

Dave c-2

11/21/2013 08:34:50 pm

After reading the article, what do you think about the impact of interest groups on political campaigns?
They do make a big difference in the election results.

Interest groups are supposed to be independent, but are they really? These interest groups can go by any name they want, but what/who do they really represent? I don't think the public really know the groups issues or who is really funding the group.

Do you think that the money these groups "donate" gains them some control or influence over the candidates they support? They work with the candidates and if he/she is elected, they expect their issues to taken care of by the candidate.

Is that fair for most of the public that cannot donate a million dollars to a campaign?
No, it's like money talks. No money no favors. It's corrupt.

What about the money they donate to campaigns, should their be limit on how much can be donated? Yes, there should be some kind of limits or better control. The general public has no idea how much or who is behind the money.

The video showed children to be sympathic because of the kids. Also it showed all female teachers. Who's vote are they going after?

Kennedy DeMeere

11/21/2013 10:59:48 pm

Intrests groups have a huge influence on today's society. getting the message out there, showing awareness, AND it makes the victims of the interests groups show that they are known and people are supporting them. at first i disliked interest groups because i thought it was all government. but then i saw how the interest groups are for everything, like animal shelters or ocean control. interest groups vary from drugs to animals and that is awesome.

Brandon T-5

11/22/2013 12:27:04 am

Interest groups have a lot of influence on todays society. The public does not really know what these interest groups do behind closed doors some of them may be independent but most groups probably are not. They represent the people with the same beliefs as them, but it would be impossible for them to represent everyone perfectly. Depending on the amount of money they donate they could have any amount of control over people that they wish. If they are the main people funding the campaigns then they will have a say. It is not fair that everyone cant donate millions of dollars, but thats the world we live in, money is everything to a lot of people. There should be a limit on how much they can donate otherwise the government could be lopsided in favor of one specific group int he future.

Maggie T-5

11/22/2013 12:57:58 am

Interest groups have a big influence on the society today. They claim to be independent but the public is not 100% sure. Interest groups represent people who share the same beliefs as them. Depending on the amount of money that they donate they can have an amount of control over the people. I think that there should be a limit to the amount that people can donate because the ones that have a lot of donations clearly outshine the ones that don't get as much of the donations.

BrendanL-5

11/22/2013 01:06:58 am

Intrest groups are hard to define if they are independent or not because they do not express it to the public. Interest groups can have as much of an influence as they want due to how much money they give to their cause. They should be limited to the amount of money they give because it gives the group more power than the people in politics

Jacob domagalski

12/2/2013 10:38:29 am

After reading the article provide it brings awareness to the power that interests groups can have. By allowing the political independence to interest groups that government can not restrict let's political independent expenditures by corporations, associations, or labor unions. Which gives them an unfair advantage over the average joe who who is not bounded with riches or Genorous donations. Or the political party that is limited. Although the general idea of setting a cap to limit ones donation could help there would be those to find sly enough supporters, that will get that interest group his intended amount of generosity. Interests groups are good they support the idea that people are in controll. But while there initial intent may be pure some where along the line of bribes and scandals thee initial intent for change can become corrupt.

JoelD-1

12/3/2013 10:30:41 am

Interest groups have a huge impact on political campaigns. They are often closely related with a party that supports their interests. I think that these groups donating money to their party definitely increases their odds of winning. I believe that this is unfair because most of the public cannot donate a huge lump sum of money to whatever party they like, and it could cause the opposite party to win the election. As for the money interest groups can donate to a particular campaign, I believe there should be a limit on the amount. If interest groups kept competing with each other and sending money to their candidates, pretty soon a lot of people would end up in some serious financial trouble. This is particularly troublesome to the party that does not win the election.

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