Is A Vote For Obama And Romney Worth $40?

Just How Much Should Be Spent To Get A President Elected?
Reportedly $6 billion will be spent by the two presidential candidates and supporting group by the end of the campaign cycle this week.

One wonders just how much is a reasonable amount to garner fairness in electing the nations' highest officer. (The President's salary is $400,000) And just what kind of advantage does spending billions really give a Presidential candidate anyway.

It's a presumed even match race Tuesday even after $6 billion in TV, radio, newspaper and internet ads reached the eyeballs of the nation for the last many months.

The latest and last Pew Research Center survey before Tuesday's election day "finds that Obama maintains his modest lead when the probable decisions of undecided voters are taken into account. Our final estimate of the national popular vote is Obama 50% and Romney 47%, when the undecided vote is allocated between the two candidates based on several indicators and opinions."

From the U.S. Election Project, Dr. Michael McDonald, Department of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University says in 2012, the number of eligible voters (in elections that included those for Governors and Congress) was 217,342,419 and the actual votes cast were 90,732,693 or about a 42% turnout of those eligible. 

In 2008, the last Presidential election year, the voters eligible were 213,313,508 and votes were 132,653,958, a 62% turnout in the Presidential election year.

Divide $6,000,000,000 spent by Obama, Romney and all the various interests groups and PACs by say 150,000,000 this year in voter turnout, and the amount spent for Presidential candidates this year, equals $40 per vote.

Is it worth it? Maybe we should consider Americans spend $7 billion each year on potato chips.

The United States Election Project