It is a very simple task to find the answer to the question: is politics all about the issues or money? For one thing, the inauguration would have looked differently, and the basic law of democracy would have been upheld. Al Gore would be our president and the majority of the United States would have the candidate that they voted in. From the University of Colorado in Boulder, it is reported that under former Governor Bush’s leadership, Texas has fallen to the lowest conditions in many areas including environment, education, and economy. For example, Texas is first in air pollution, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. Texas is first in child poverty and child related deaths. Texas has the largest number of poor counties. Why then, can a leader with very little experience and skill become the president of the United States? It isn’t because he can pronounce words correctly. There is as much chance of issues being the main factor in politics as there is chance of George W. being president if his last name wasn’t Bush. We can clearly see who has spent more money on his campaign and therefore we can clearly see that money is politics.

How then, does money buy votes? One outlet is campaign advertisements. According to the organization Texans For Public Justice, Bush spent millions of dollars to fund television advertisements in Texas. Bush has even ignored voluntary presidential campaign spending limits to push his ads. Quoted from the organization, “"Governor Bush's decision to blow the lid off the presidential spending limits will only deepen voter cynicism. Unlike Ross Perot or Steve Forbes, who bankrolled their own campaigns, George Bush will rely on millions of dollars in special-interest money to fund his television blitz of the key primary states," said Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) Director Craig McDonald. "Bush is no conservative when it comes to stockpiling campaign cash, and he has demonstrated little compassion for political reform.”

An article in October 1999 from the Washington post reports that Bush paid six hundred thousand dollars for television ads in New Hampshire and has spent a quarter of a million dollars to produce them. And this was only at the beginning to Bush’s campaign. Overall he spent as much as nineteen million dollars over the past year, the most ever in history.

In addition to television ads money can be used to sway voters. Quoted from the Washington Post: “Bush spent close to \$1 million to win the Iowa straw poll last August, aides said at the time. The latest filing shows where some of it went. The campaign paid about $273,000 to the Iowa Republican Party for the $25 tickets that were given out to Bush supporters, plus $50,000 to reserve a choice piece of land next to the Ames coliseum for a barbecue and entertainment. In addition to chartering buses for backers, the campaign laid out another $65,000 to a Minnesota caterer to feed them.” Bush has also spent two hundred and fifty thousand dollars on telemarketing services to find supporters in key states.

And so taking into account the amount of money spent on the Bush campaign and the result, we can see what really goes on in the voting process. The candidate with the most financial influence buys the political positions and Bush has bought the presidency for four years.