Are You Smart Enough to Buy Christmas Presents, But Too Stupid to Vote? | Eastern North Carolina Now

Dan Backer
Dan Backer
    'Tis the season of giving, and Christmas 2019 is on pace to set records.

    According to Gallup, consumers plan to spend an average of $942 on Christmas gifts this year—up from $885 million in 2018. All in all, holiday retail sales are set to surpass $1 trillion, with online spending on an unprecedented track.     All in all, holiday retail sales are set to surpass $1 trillion, with online spending on an unprecedented track.

    That's a lot of Christmas trees, iPhones, and bourbon bottles! On top of that, America's retailers are pumping billions of dollars into TV ads, social media spots, and other promotional initiatives.

    However, if that same money was spent on political advertisements, there would be outrage! Christmas carols would turn into shrill screams for "campaign finance reform." After all, as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) recently put it, "Billionaires able to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to elect candidates that represent the wealthy and powerful [is] not democracy."

    In truth, political spending pales in comparison to the holiday spurge: Election 2016's final price tag-the largest in U.S. history-was less than $7 billion for all federal elections (and an estimated $1 billion is double-counted). Election 2018 set a new midterm record, but came in under $6 billion.

    Even in 2020, which is expected to be "the most expensive presidential race ever," the total is unlikely to exceed $7 billion. That's one little Elf on the Shelf, compared to the $1 trillion holiday season upon us.

    However, when a group of individuals comes together and spends $100,000 on a political ad, Democrats immediately pivot to outrage. Over at the Federal Election Commission (FEC), rogue Democratic commissioner Ellen Weintraub continues to crusade against political advertising, arguing such information "divides our democracy."

    How, exactly? If anything, the backbone of American democracy is the free flow of information, which we all process to make decisions in the political system. Restrict that flow of information, and democracy is sure to suffer.

    Whether you see a political ad or a car commercial, you're simply receiving information to process. The onus is on the purveyor of information to sell you one way or another-if you're not sold, you're not forced to buy.

    Yet political spending is constantly considered some nefarious activity. There is no federal agency requiring retailers to report their ad buys, who they pay to execute them, or who buys their goods. Dare to spread a political message this Christmas, however, and you're bound to run into red tape.

    In reality, neither form of advertising should trigger anything other than turning the channel or scrolling down the page. But rogue bureaucrats like Weintraub don't trust Americans to process information for themselves and make decisions accordingly-to vote "properly" (e.g. vote Democrat). Therefore, it is up to Weintraub and other Democrats who buy into this un-American thinking to regulate political speech because Americans are simply too stupid or too naive to think for themselves.

    Why? Why are you smart enough to decide which car to buy this Christmas, but not smart enough to decide which candidate you prefer?

    As free-thinking adults, we should be offended by the liberal scolds who consider us incapable of thinking for ourselves. Remember: The next time you see a Christmas commercial, you can watch it or tune out. The next time you see a 2020 political ad, you can vote for that candidate or not.

    The power is yours-and yours alone. It is not given to you by Bernie Sanders, Ellen Weintraub, or anyone else for that matter. Don't let Scrooge take that away.

    Dan Backer is a veteran campaign counsel, having served more than 100 candidates, PACs, and political organizations. He is founding attorney of political.law, a campaign finance and political law firm in Alexandria, Virginia.
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




I Will Not Wait for Peace Words with the Publisher, Op-Ed & Politics State Board to Randomly Determine Ballot Order for 2020 Candidates


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

President Joe Biden took direct aim at Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas during a recent interview, referring to him simply as “the guy who likes to spend a lot of time on yachts.”
The best way the county and city can help hold down inflation is to resist all tax increases
Pope Francis lambasted leftist gender ideology during an address this week, warning that it presented an extreme danger to mankind.
amnesty would just encourage more illegal aliens to storm our borders
The Christmas candy was barely off the shelves when the Valentine’s candy appeared. Red and pink hearts with caramel and nut-filled chocolate goodness caught our eye. We are reminded of how we love love. Young love, especially.

HbAD1

far left sugar daddy has also funded anti-Israel groups and politicians in US
Be careful what you wish for, you may get it
America needs to wake up and get its priorities right
Former President Donald Trump suggested this week that if he becomes president again, he might allow Prince Harry to be deported.
It's a New Year, which means it's time to make resolutions — even for prominent evangelical leaders. The Babylon Bee asked the following well-known figures in the faith what they hope to accomplish in 2024:
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic, reportedly the first time a president or vice president has visited an abortion facility.

HbAD2

An eight-mile stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville has been temporarily closed due to a string of “human and bear interactions,” the National Parks Service announced.

HbAD3

 
Back to Top