Marjorie Randon Hershey, professor of Political Science at Indiana University and author of “Party Politics in America (13^th Edition), joined students participating from the George Mason University Video Studio along with Steve Scully, the political editor for the C-SPAN networks, and students from the University of Denver and Pace University to discuss January’s 5-4 SCOTUS decision.

Students asked Hershey, “Because this decision will allow corporations to contribute unlimited amounts of money to candidates and/or causes that could influence federal elections, will this give independents a better shot come election time?” Hershey argues that even with this decision, independents are daft if they think that this will change the way voters vote, which is primarily Democrat or Republican. “Party identification makes a successful candidate,” explains Hershey. She then stated that, “only 20% of voters turn out for primaries, and those that turn out are the extremists. Extremists tend to be far left or far right. Only about 10% of voters are independents, and most will lean one way or the other if you persuade them.”

“Money is important in a campaign, but it isn’t everything,” argues Hershey. The $1.6 billion average raised by campaigns isn’t guaranteed to rise in the coming elections, it may take some time for the changes to take place.  “Corporations were hesitant to do this in the 70’s so it is likely that they may be again,” says Hershey.

The distance-learning course, which is produced by C-SPAN, is a unique opportunity for students to interview guests via video conference. The course airs on C-SPAN3 on Fridays at 5p.m. and also streams online (http://www.c-span.org/Distance_Learning/).