Welcome!

Hello from Beg and Borrow

This year's election cycle will be the most expensive in America's history. With $5.8 million in play for the presidential election alone, it's hard to imagine how local candidates can even begin to compete with the overwhelming $30 million of campaign spending on the federal level. 

Federal campaigns have spent almost $30 million in Missouri.  

Beg and Borrow was created as part of a Political Communication course at Truman State University. 
When we first started considering potential topics, we found two interests guided our suggestions.

First, we knew we wanted to learn about some aspect of campaign finance. Between the impact of the 2010 Citizens United case and the record-breaking fundraising of the 2012 presidential election, we wanted to take a hard look at what it takes to get a candidate elected. 

We also considered the lack of analysis at the local level of campaigning and thought a focus on the races that most directly impact Missouri residents would be more interesting than on national-level fundraising.

Thus, Beg and Borrow was born.

Throughout the next few weeks, we will provide an in-depth look at how local candidates raise funds in Missouri. We will interview candidates to learn more about how "real" people raise money to run for local office as well as conduct our own research to provide suggestions and product reviews for future campaigns.

You can follow our progress through the coming weeks on Twitter.