Well, as you can see, I obviously haven’t learned how to play ball. I’m a hardhead I guess.
Well done.
There are ways to spoof the system. If my opponents want to outspend me 5:1 (or 7:1 as they did in the last election), then at that burn rate, I’m almost honor bound to make them pony up in any given election cycle.
In fact, if the conservatives in Texas were to pony up $50k for 20 races against Texas House Speaker Joe Straus’ lieutenants, then he’d have to spend $5-7 million in defense.
Instead, this is exactly what Speaker Straus does. He picks a few conservatives and funds a challenger each cycle. The conservatives freak about about losing one of their own and spend all their money in those races. That’s a win-win for Straus. If he knocks off a conservative, win. If not, he kept them on defense. Win.
That’s a microcosm of what happens everywhere.