rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (07/03/85)
From an interview with National Journal reporter Ronald Brownstein on NPR's "All Things Considered" 7/2/85: NCPAC & far right direct-mail baron Richard Viguerie raised a phenomenal $20 million last year through direct mail appeals to help re-elect Reagan, but the expenses they incurred to do this were even greater, thus they actually suffered a net loss! Furthermore, 85% of all the money NCPAC raised was in turn spent on more direct mail fundraising, & very little on basic political publicity like radio & TV ads, polling, other advertising, etc. A federal regulation (I believe) requires political fundraising groups to state in their appeals how the funds will be spent. NCPAC's mailing claimed a $25 contribution would pay for radio spots, & a $500 one would go toward purchasing TV time. Yet NCPAC earmarked all such contributions for further direct mail efforts. This wasn't so much a matter of intentional fraud on NCPAC's part as it was its being captive to the huge expenses of direct mail campaigns. What will be the effect on the 1986 & 1988 campaigns? Many conservative activists now believe there'll be no money except for more direct mail efforts, thus extending the vicious circle into the future. "Reagan is a means, not an end" : this is how many neo-right leaders have described the 1984 Reagan re-election campaign. For NCPAC specifically, this meant Reagan was a means of rebuilding its contributor list, using Reagan's name to wipe out previously incurred debts. The real influence of the far right on national politics has been debated for years now. The above facts tend to indicate the neo-right has no real effect, or a purely negative one: to drain money away from GOP & especially conservative campaign funding. Cheers, Ron Rizzo "If it costs a lot, it has to be good." -- Electra Collage, Miss Ballot Box of 1947, on being arrested for shoplifting at Cartier's