Chapter Five
1996-The General Election
The Nominee Campaigns
Browne captured the nomination. What did he do with it?
The biggest number associated with the campaign remains the fanciful assertion that the Browne campaign effort spent $3.5 million dollars in 1996. This claim was made by Harry Browne in LibertyWire, an electronic newsletter for his supporters, in an issue dated “a little over 200 days before the start of the 2000 Presidential Campaign in January”. Browne talked of an “8.75 million national campaign effort in 2000” which would be “5.25 million more than in 1996”.
The 1996 national campaign spent nothing like 3.5 million dollars. For all of 1996, Browne’s Campaign Committee spent barely more than $900,000. Only $638,000 was spent after Browne captured the nomination. During the general election campaign, the National Committee spent another 1.3 million dollars. Ignoring the modest detail that the National Committee had extensive other duties besides supporting Browne, total Campaign and Committee spending for July-December 1996 was under 2 million dollars. For all of 1996 through elections, total spending by both the Campaign and the National Committee was only 3.1 million dollars, far less than Browne had claimed for his campaign effort alone.
During the general election campaign Browne 1996 spent $638,000. The advertising budget was $6120. That’s the total itemized media advertising for the post-nomination campaign. Were you wondering why you didn’t hear Browne radio ads in 1996? Except on four stations: He didn’t buy any. Were you wondering why you didn’t hear Browne TV ads in 1996? He didn’t buy any. Browne’s 1996 campaign spent less than one cent on the dollar to broadcast its message to the general public. Willis, of course, claimed he went over to Browne because Browne would do public outreach, not because Browne had invested heavily to retain his services.
Browne did do direct mail and printed advertising, with payments to Mount Vernon Printing, Jack Williams, Accumail, and Muni Savyon totaling over $80,000. Direct mail fundraising costs appear in this total. Browne’s book did get his message out to at least some people who otherwise would not have heard it. Mount Vernon Printing and Accumail were vendors in 1996 and in 2000; Browne 1996 gave them substantially more than Browne 2000 did.
Browne’s payments to his staff, particularly the $57,000 to Campaign Manager Sharon Ayres, were heatedly debated at the 1998 Party National Convention. $57,000 for the general election campaign is an annualized pay of $114,000 per year. $114,000 is a lot of money, more than most Americans (in 2002) will ever make in one year. The Campaign claimed that much of this money was reimbursement for legitimate expenses. No evidence for this claim has ever been supplied.
