A recent telephone survey by polling firm Rasmussen Reports finds that U.S. voters are less supportive of campaign finance restrictions than reform groups regularly claim. The data show a clear and deep skepticism of the current campaign finance regime and a willingess to let the onerous system of low contribution limits and other campaign curbs fade away.
Groups like Democracy21, Common Cause and Public Citizen regularly claim that public opinion polls show strong support for campaign finance regulation. If a pollster presents a problem and asks if one supports “reform,” it’s likely to elicit a positive response. However, questions about specific campaign finance restrictions have yielded quite low support in this poll.
Perhaps the most interesting tidbit in the poll is that, in advance of the Supreme Court’s rehearing of Citizens United v. FEC in September, those who had an opinion it would be “good for the country” if the “U.S. Supreme Court struck down the current campaign finance rules.”
Although 40 percent were undecided, this statement was favored 35-25 among people who had an opinion.
Although a majority — 56 percent — responded affirmatively to the statement, “Should the government regulation how much money individuals can give to political campaigns,” the data show that the public doesn’t necessarily think the limit should be as low as they currently are or as low “reformers” want the limits to be.
A strong majority — 60 percent — in the survey said they thought it takes at least $10,000 to influence a politician. Twenty-six percent thought it would take more than $10,000, 22 percent thought it would take more than $50,000, 11 percent thought it would take more than $100,000. Only 14 percent thought $1,000 would be enough to sway a politician and 19 percent were not sure.
At least 60 percent of voters seem to agree that the current $2,400 individual contribution limit is too low.
In any event, voters don’t seem to think limiting contributions should be the centerpiece of campaign finance “reform.” By a 68-23 margin, voters said disclosing contributions is more important than limiting them.
Respondents viewed limits as ineffective by a huge margin. Eighty-eight percent of those surveyed said it was either very of somewhat likely that interest groups will find ways to get money to politicians if the government limits individual contributions.
Here’s a Rasmussen Reports video on the poll and the firm’s write-up.
