Money talks in US elections as candidates run to it

WASHINGTON: A shower of dollar bills thrown at Hillary Clinton's election cavalcade by Bernie Sanders' supporters has brought momentary visual attention to the role of money in American electoral politics, but it has hardly been a state secret that the US has been sliding towards becoming a plutocracy - a country ruled by the rich, for the rich - for some time now.

The self-described “world's greatest democracy“ spent a staggering $7 billion in the 2012 election cycle, including $2.6 billion on the presidential election campaign, and it's a good bet that the amount will double in 2016.

The number of small donors has continued to drop nationwide, and according to the website `letsfreecongress.com', one per cent of Americans now contribute 68% of all election funding. Candidates who outspend their rivals win 95% of the time.

Even Barack Obama, who gained mass support and momentum from retail contributions in 2008, eventually raked in big time mega-buck contributions to make his way to two terms in the White House.

Sanders has repeatedly attacked the former first lady over her close ties to Wall Street and paid speeches, and on Saturday , his supporters made a needling point about her moneyed approach to politics by throwing dollar bills as she drove to a fundraiser hosted by a neighbour of the actor George Clooney , where the rich and famous ponied up $33,400 per person to jostle with the frontrunner.

To get a seat at a roundtable with George Clooney , his wife Amal and Hillary Clinton, as well as a prime spot at the dinner, a couple would've had to pay or raise $353,400.

Sanders, who says the average contribution to his campaign is $27, immediately was handed a golden talking point when even Clooney agreed that the money involved in US elections was obscene.

“Yes. I think it's an obscene amount of money . The Sanders campaign... is absolutely right. It's ridiculous that we should have this kind of mo ney in politics. I agree comp letely,“ Clooney conceded, while arguing that the money is necessary to get Democrats elected.

Hours later, Sanders shot off an e-mail to his suppor ters referring to Clooney's mea culpa of sorts saying, “that's what this election is about: tearing down a system where big money props up the institutions that rig the eco nomy against ordinary Ame ricans. And the central question of our campaign is can 99% of Americans defeat the 1% trying to maintain the status quo?“ He asked for contribution of $2.70 for his campaign to try and win New York “as a way of saying you have had `enough' of millionaires and billionaires buying our campaigns and elections.“

The money factor has also leaped centerstage after tax returns of the two candidates showed the Clintons raking in more than a hundred times what Sanders earned in 2014 -$28 million v $200,000.

Cruz blanks Trump in Wyoming convention

Ted Cruz on Sunday won all 14 delegates in the Wyoming state Republican convention, a morale-boosting victory for the Texas senator against the controversial presidential frontrunner Donald Trump ahead of Tuesday's crucial New York primary. While Cruz got nine delegates, Trump managed to only get one.