preview

Pros And Cons Of Running For President

Good Essays

So you want to run for president. What an exciting time! •You’re prepared to spend a long time campaigning (although probably not as long as this guy), move into the White House and maybe even learn some government secrets. That shouldn’t be too hard at all. The best way to start is by filling out the necessary paperwork on a federal level. There are only two forms you have to fill out to become what a Federal Election Commission official called “a person who filled out the forms to run for president.” (You aren’t officially considered a candidate until you raise a total of $5,000, and just 53 people have claimed that much this election cycle.) Those forms are the aptly named FEC Form 1 and FEC Form 2. Form 1 is a statement of organization …show more content…

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has raised the most money (her total contributions equal $233,495,789.80), followed by Bernie Sanders (with total contributions equaling $230,676,027.53) and Ted Cruz (whose total contributions are $92,212,158.19), but that does not mean you should give up. There is another FEC form to fill out when you raise money (Form 3), and •you’ll need to keep track of your receipts and disbursements. Steven Kerbel, a Colorado Springs man who ended his in March, knows about this During his year-long campaign, Kerbel, a Libertarian who now works for Gary Johnson’s campaign, knew it was a “crazy longshot” he got elected. Despite that, he says people were willing to donate to his cause because people were able to connect with his …show more content…

“People donated because they liked what I said and I was honest. You have to be honest with people — that’s how you do it as a candidate.” After going through these steps, a crucial final step is getting people to vote for you. Getting yourself in the debates may be helpful — if you can poll at 15 percent or higher, you’re in. Trump and Clinton are currently the only ones who have met this threshold. Gary Johnson is polling at about 8 percent, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein sits around 4 percent. Arguably one of the best ways to gain the support of your fellow Americans is to build a solid platform people want to get behind. Durousseau’s platform focuses on education reform and lowering taxes, while Rohrbacker writes in a Word document about his plans to work with Russia and to raise taxes on those making over $150,000 “by a modest $50 a year.” You have to find what works for you — recent evidence shows what works for •one candidate may not work •for

Get Access