John Lott and Bradley Smith
Trump’s claim to control politicians, however, appears to be nothing more than braggadocio. His one concrete example of puppetry, offered in the GOP debate: “With Hillary Clinton, I said, ‘Be at my wedding,’ and she came to my wedding . . . She had no choice, because I gave.” Leaving aside that this isn’t a pressing matter of government policy, attending a lavish Trump wedding hardly seems like something that you have to pay people to attend…
Trump’s crass and cynical rhetoric aside, there is another way to explain political donations. Maybe donors give to candidates who value the same things they do. We’re no Pollyannas, but the evidence indicates that this is usually the case.
