This year's presidential race is said to be the most expensive one thus far, with President Bush and Democratic nominee-to-be John Kerry on their way to spending nearly a half-billion dollars total for their campaigns.

Some Penn State political science professors and campus leaders say spending this amount of money on campaigning is an inevitable part of the presidential race because there is a lot of pressure to advertise.

Bush has already reached his goal of $170 million, and more fundraising is expected. Supporters say that it is likely that he could reach $200 million or more -- without including the $75 million government grant he will receive in September.

Kerry's fundraising goal is set at about $105 million, and he is expected to take the government grant of $75 million in full public financing for the general election.

Combining both candidates' campaign funding puts this presidential race in the $455 million range, without taking into consideration additional contributions by Democratic and Republican parties, and outside groups. The campaign financing for this presidential race is unprecedented.

"I think there needs to be a limit on the amount of money each campaign can spend," Mike Evans (junior-electrical engineering) said.

Presidential campaigns are expensive because advertising is expensive, said William Bianco, associate professor of political science.

"About 90 percent of the presidential campaign or any campaign is spent on advertising. It costs a lot of money to inform the public," he said.

Jessica Hopkins, College Democrats president, said spending so much money on campaigning is more of a negative thing.

"The more money that is spent, the more the distance from the voters. Spending money to reach a vote makes voters feel as though the election is bought by the campaign and special interest groups," she said. "People making large donations make everyday people feel as though they don't matter if they don't have the money."

The 2000 presidential race holds the record with Bush and Al Gore raising a combined $290 million total -- mostly because Bush skipped public financing and its spending limit in the primaries.

Eric Plutzer, associate professor of political science, said that most of the campaign funding would focus on advertisements that are not likely to be informative.

"There is a possibility of turning people off because of the negative tone of the advertisements," Plutzer said.

Richard Pastena, College Republicans president, said that spending a lot of money on presidential campaigns is a part of the political system.

As the presidential election comes closer, the College Republicans and the College Democrats will campaign for the two corresponding candidates.

The College Republicans will be working with the Students for Bush, an unofficial organization run by Shauna Moser and Vicky Cangelosi, Pastena said.

The College Democrats won't give money for funding, but they will fundraise over the summer as the election date approaches.

"Of course we will promote. We're a big part of the ground-forces here in Pennsylvania, and we'll make sure we promote Kerry," Hopkins said.