Political writings and campaign finances

All who know me, know I am a politically active citizen.  I vote. I endorse candidates. I donate time and money to political causes that are important to me and I volunteer as an administrator on a local political discussions page. All this political activity causes me to do a lot of political writing. I recently reviewed the campaign financial disclosures for candidates in our local elections.  I noticed there was a lot of disparity in both the amount of money candidates spend and the sources from which they obtain that funding.  

Personally, I trust candidates who obtain their funding from a variety of sources, rather than mostly self funding or lacking in outside sources.  Here's why: I feel it's important for candidates, especially on a local level, to get out and talk to their constituents. How can they represent their constituents on important issues that affect them if they don't engage with the citizens and get to know them as individuals, homeowners, taxpayers, employees of community companies, business owners in the community, etc? Also, if they are talking to the people and the people find them to be honest, full of integrity and qualified, the funding will come from many sources. Small donations add up and , I feel, speak to the character of the candidate more than one or two big donations.  I also question a candidate's diplomacy skills, ability to work with others and their initiative to work hard as an advocate for themselves and their city when they refuse to ask for backing from outside sources. The experience they gain and connections they make while campaigning can be useful and important to moving a city forward if and when they become elected officials of the city.  

That was my own theory and reasoning behind the old adage of "putting my money where my mouth is." I donated to one of my local candidates and I'm proud to say that when I compared his financial campaign disclosures to the other candidates', he was mostly externally funded.  The other candidates were mostly self-funded.  I think he's going to be a great mayor when he wins.  (I believe in the power of positive thinking.) 

I did some academic research on the topic to see if my theory held true.  Although I couldn't find any articles on local elections, I did find one interesting one on national elections and self-funding verses outside funding. If you're interested, I think it's worth a read.  Some of what it said supported my views, which I found interesting.  

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