The goal of this study is to analyze the effects of campaign spending on the percentage of votes received for a candidate and the election outcome. This is achieved through correlating independent variables specifying the candidate’s spending, candidate’s characteristics, and state’s characteristics on the dependent variable of either vote percentage for a candidate or wins and losses. Using Tobit regression analysis, for every $1 dollar increase in campaign spending, the vote percentage received will increase by 6.77×10^-7. Using Probit regression analysis, for every $1 dollar increase in campaign spending the probability of winning increases by 5.12×10^-8. Other variables such as the incumbent status of a candidate, celebrity status, party affiliation, scandals, percentage of registered voters in the candidate’s party, state partisanship, state unemployment, and state population were included in the study to further analyze other factors determining the percentage of votes received and ultimately, the election outcome.
Throughout the 2016 presidential election, our new president, Donald Trump, attacked every social group, but his own. I hypothesized this type of pointed rhetoric would influence individuals’ self assurance. Through an anonymous questionnaire, I found that four in five Colorado College students indeed shifted in how they self-identify pre- and post-election. Despite students’ fear, disillusionment and outrage resulting from Trump’s attacks, however, several students still managed to find power within their more marginalized identities. Given the tumultuous nature of the election, my study is indicative of a broader national movement in terms of how college student’s responded to the election
