180 CHAPTER 6|POLITICAL PARTIES
CAMPAIGN ASSISTANCE
One of the most visible ways that the political parties support candidates is by
contributing to and spending money on campaign activities. By and large, federal
law mandates that these funds be spent by the organization that raised them; the
national party, for example, is limited in the amount of money it can contribute to
congressional and presidential candidates or to state party organizations. As we
discuss in Chapter 7, however, party organizations that raise campaign funds can
use them to help candidates get elected through independent expenditures—by
running their own ads in a candidate’s district or state.
Figure 6.4 shows the amount of money raised by the top groups within the
Republican and Democratic parties for the 2012 election (through November 2).
The fi nal fi gures show that the parties and their various committees raised nearly
a billion dollars each. The Democratic and Republican national committees (DNC
and RNC) raised the most money, but the congressional campaign committees also
raised signifi cant sums. Congressional Democratic committees outraised their
Republican counterparts. State and local party committees also raised large sums
in the 2012 election.
Along with supplying campaign funds, party organizations give candidates
other assistance, ranging from off ering campaign advice (on which issues to
emphasize, how to deal with the press, and the like) to conducting polls. Party
organizations at all levels also undertake get-out-the-vote activities, encouraging
supporters to get to the polls.PARTY PLATFORMS
The party platform is a set of promises about what candidates from the party will
do if they are elected. The most visible party platform is the one approved at each
party’s presidential nominating convention, but the party organizations in the House
and Senate also release platforms, as do other groups in the major parties. Party plat-
forms generally refl ect the brand-name diff erences between the parties discussed
earlier. For example, in the case of abortion rights the 2012 Republican presidential
platform favored a total ban on abortions, while the Democratic presidential plat-
form in 2012 expressed support for a woman’s right to choose, meaning that abortion
would be legal under a wider range of conditions.party platform A set of objec-
tives outlining the party’s issue
positions and priorities. Candidates
are not required to support their
party’s platform.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WAYS
parties help candidates is by
raising money to fund campaigns.
In 2012, the DNC raised nearly
a billion dollars to help re-elect
Obama and to support other
Democratic candidates. The RNC
raised a similar amount.