Popular wisdom may be popular, but sometimes it's downright wrong. Five stories from The Conversation's 2018 politics coverage interrogate popular wisdom – and find it lacking.
Lots of money is spent on campaigns. But is that a problem?
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Congressional midterm election spending will likely hit a record $5 billion. But the spending masks the main problem with US campaign financing: who gives the money and what they may get in return.
Money in politics? Somebody’s got to pay for those signs.
AP/John Raoux
Is money the root of all evil in politics? It’s easy to see a correlation between winning and fundraising – money flows to likely winners and competitive races. But correlation is not causation.
Trump’s long-time lawyer and political ‘fixer’ has pleaded guilty to breaking two campaign finance laws, allegedly at the direction of the president.
Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
Trump's former personal lawyer broke two laws that control political spending, both passed after major election scandals. President Roosevelt survived his campaign's misdeeds. Nixon did not.
Republican candidate for Georgia’s Sixth District congressional seat Karen Handel declares victory with her husband Steve.
AP Photo/John Bazemore